Tiny King

Asbury recently enjoyed our choir's presentation of it's annual Christmas musical/drama.  Of course, the baby Jesus was one of its stars.  We were very blessed to have a real, live baby boy playing the part of Jesus!

One-year-old James sure did make his parents Nate and Kristy proud with his performance!  Like the song says of the real baby Jesus, "no crying he makes."  Not only did James not cry, he smiled and laughed, clapped his hands and waved (you know, that cute baby wave, opening and closing his hand).  James may not have stolen the show, but he sure did steal our hearts!!

Come to think of it, that's what the real baby Jesus wants, our hearts.  Could it be that Jesus came to us in such a small package so that we would be able to make enough room in our hearts for him to squeeze in?  Did Jesus come as a baby because babies are so adorable and cute, helping us drop our worldly inhibitions toward the things of God?  Perhaps, Jesus came to us as a vulnerable, utterly dependent baby to show that that is how God wants us to come to Him: trusting Him to protect us in our vulnerability and depending on Him for our very existence.

If we can make just a tiny bit of room in our hearts for this Tiny King to enter, Jesus will grow inside us, transforming us into His own likeness.  Our transformation is the very reason He came.  How much room can you make in your heart for the Tiny King this Christmas?

May the Baby born in Bethlehem enter and grow in your hearts this Christmas season and always!
Pastor Mark

Take the Cookie

This past Sunday (December 11th) was a beautiful day here at Asbury!  After Sunday School and Worship, we enjoyed the food and fellowship of our Birthday Lunch, accompanied by Mike Exner (Ansley's dad) on his saxophone.  Then we moved back into the Sancturary for the choir's Christmas program - O Little Town - written, directed, and choreographed by our very talented Minister of Music, Ansley Dennis. 

After such a long, but beautiful day, we all were very tired, and sometimes our fatigue can prevent us from observing some of God's most simple, but most wonderful blessings!

As I was leaving the church to go back home, Ansley's dad was carrying Ansley's baby, Novelle.  Novelle loves to play with Ansley's keys, and this day was no exception. 

But something extraordinary happened!

Ansley offered Novelle a cookie.  Instead of reaching with her free hand, so that she could have the keys and the cookie at the same time, Novelle dropped the keys and took the cookie.

Not only does that action demonstrate Novelle's intelligence, it demonstrates a profound message to us!  We need to get our priorities in order.

Christmas is the celebration and remembrance of the Incarnation of God.  Period!  That's all, nothing else.

Although they are cute and fun, Christmas is not about Santa, reindeer and elves.  Christmas is not about nativity scenes on courthouse lawns.  Christmas is not about maxing out credit cards to save retailers from going out of business.

Christmas is about God becoming flesh and living among us.  Christmas is about renewing the Incarnation of God in our own lives.

When we get caught up in all the other stuff, we need to drop the keys and take the cookie.

Have a Blessed Incarnation Day!
Pastor Mark

A Basket of Water

This story is not original to me, but I belive it is worth sharing...

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson.  Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible.  His grandson, who wanted to be just like him, tried to imitate him in any way he could…

 One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you, but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book.  What good does reading the Bible do?”

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this old wicker coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house.

The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.  This time the boy ran faster, but again the old wicker basket was empty before he returned home.

Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, “I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water.  You can do this.  You're just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all.  The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it's useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” the old man said.  “Look at the basket.”

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different.  Instead of a dirty old wicker coal basket, it was clean.

“Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible.  You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.”

Moral of the wicker basket story: Take time to read a portion of God's word each day; it will affect you for good even if you don't retain a word.

Pastor Mark

From the Manger to the Cross

I love Christmas!

For me, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.  Of course, it is very easy to get caught up in all the hustle and bustle of the season and get so tired that you lose sight of what the season is all about.  I know.  I've been there.

But try this: stop for just a moment, take a deep breath, and relax.  Get a picture of the Nativity Scene in your mind.  The baby Jesus lying in the manger; Mary and Joseph looking on with holy pride and human joy.  The shepherds waiting just outside, hoping to get just a glimpse of the holy child.  I can almost hear the par-rump-a-pum-pum of the little drummer boy, offering the only gift he has, himself.

This is a very humble and peaceful beginning to a story that will end in tragic violence!

Well, it almost ends that way.

The cross is not quite the end of the story, not quite the climax that some in that day wanted it to be.  But the story would be meaningless without the cross.  This humble, peaceful little baby boy would soon make a tremendous sacrifice. 

His sacrifice began not long after His birth.  As soon as His little body and mind matured sufficiently, Jesus began a life of obedience to God, totally disregarding any selfish desires that may have tempted him!  In His ministry on earth, He sought to convey God's love and peace upon all who would receive it.

Amazingly, Jesus had enemies.  His main enemies seemed to be those we would have expected to embrace Him and His teaching - the religious leaders.  Throughout His adult life Jesus faced one confrontation after another with these leaders, until they finally got the upper hand.  Or so it seemed.

From the Manger to the Cross, Jesus sacrificed His life and desires in obedience to the Father. 

The beginning of the story is humble and peaceful, but the end of the story is glorious!  The Resurrection seals our everlasting destiny.  And THIS is what Christmas is all about!  There can be no Resurrection without the Cross, and no Cross without the Manger.

Be blessed.
Pastor Mark

Thanks in All Circumstances

"Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Several things to think about here.  Be joyful always?  I understand that real joy is different from what we call "happiness" because joy resides deep down inside where nothing and no one can disturb it.  Happiness is on the surface and depends upon our circumstances being to our liking.  But being joyful makes me think of fun and excitement, when that joy that resides so deeply finds its way to the surface and bubbles over to resemble that happiness we just mentioned.  Perhaps I've been wrong about what it means to be joyful.  I'll have to think about that some more.  What do you think?

Pray continually.  This always bring the absurd image to my mind of someone who continually walks around with their head bowed and their eyes closed, bumping into everything.  I know that's not what pray continually means, but I have talked to people who seem to think that is what it means: "How can I pray continually?  I would never get anything done!"  Of course, you and I know that praying continually means that we are always in an attitude of prayer, where everything we think, do, and say, is part of our ongoing conversation with God.

Give thanks!  You knew this was where I was going with all this, didn't you?  Well, it is Thanksgiving!  The main thing I want to point out here, is that this Scripture tells us to give thanks IN all circumstances, not FOR all circumstances!  We can really get ourselves in a heap of trouble if we fail to make this distinction!  I can never be thankful for the evil that befalls me in this life, but I strive to maintain a thankful attitude toward God even when I am suffering from the effects of that evilness.  I can be thankful in such circumstances because I am convinced that God is ultimately in control.  I can endure suffering because I know the suffering I experience in this life is nothing compared with the glory I will experience in the next life - when I am eternally in the presence of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Could this thankfulness and ongoing conversation with God have something to do with being joyful always?  I think it might at that!

Joy, thankfulness, being in continuous conversation with God - all this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus!

Be blessed, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Pastor Mark

Expecting the Worst

I went to Wal-mart the other day.  I know.  I don't much like going there either.  It's too crowded.  People are always blocking the aisles to carry on a conversation.  The lines at the register are almost always too long.  It can be a frustrating experience!

But, there are some things that are less expensive there than anywhere else.  Like their generic version of Aleve.  Among other things, that's what I bought at Wal-mart.  You guessed it; the checkout line was too long!  The person in front of me took forever to get her money out, and then another forever to gather her stuff and move on!  I was starting to get a little irritable.  Just a teeny bit, mind you.

Well, I finally got out of the store with my stuff, got it into the car, and went home.  I went to put away my bottle of (generic) Aleve, but decided I needed to go ahead and take one.  Can you blame me?  When I opened the bottle, I saw that someone beat me to it!  It had already been opened and the seal broken!

I was preparing myself against all kinds of arguments for why Wal-mart might be reluctant to exchange the opened bottle of pills for an unopened bottle of pills.  What if they thought I had opened it, took out several pills, and just wanted to exchange it for a full bottle, thereby getting some free pills?  I was ready for them.  What if they asked my why I didn't check the bottle before putting it in my buggy?  I was ready for that one too.  All the way back to Wal-mart, I tried to think of all the arguments I might need to employ.

I walked in, saw the greeter, and told her I needed to exchange this bottle of pills.  She gave me a sticker and told me to go to Customer Service.  I rounded the corner and noticed that there were a few people in line ahead of me, so I decided to go ahead and get a new bottle off the shelf before heading over there.  I got in line, checked my watch, and thought, "Let's just see how long THIS takes!"

The two people ahead of me in the line went through quickly.  I explained to the lady at the counter what had happened.  She smiled and said, "Somebody must have had a headache."  I laughed and said, "They must have!"  Then I told her I brought a new bottle of pills from the shelf.  She thanked me for doing that, and exchanged the bottles without a single question!

I was pleasantly surprised.  After an irritating and frustrating experience, I had a right pleasant experience!  And it only took five minutes!

When have you expected the worst to happen, but ended up having a relatively pleasant experience instead?

Be Blessed.

The opposite of faith.

When I ask most people what they think is the opposite of faith, they answer, "doubt."  I can understand that way of thinking.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  I feel great when God gives me the confidence that what I hope for is a sure thing!

But what about those times when I don't have confidence that what I hope for is a sure thing?  I'm not talking about my hope for eternal life here.  I'm thinking of things like, "Will my sermon this Sunday meet the needs of my congregation?" or "Will this paycheck last until the next one comes?"

Those are the times that test our faith.  I'm sorry, but I don't think any of us can be sure of everything we hope for in this life or certain of these kinds of things that we cannot see.  We pray as Jesus did at Gethsemane, "Not my will, but yours be done."  We are not sure; we are not certain.  We doubt.

Does that mean we have no faith?  I don't think so.  I believe fear, is the opposite of faith.  Fear causes us to believe that God cannot or will not take care of us!  Fear makes us take matters into our own hands, or worse, give up in despair.  Fear says, "God can't handle this situation, so I guess I'll just have to do the best I can."

Abraham, the father of faith, doubted.  He allowed Sarah to talk him into having a child with Haggar because he doubted that God could give them a child of their own in their old age.

Don't beat yourself up when you have doubts.  Doubt is a normal component of faith!  We continue trusting God, even amid our doubts.  It is fear that causes us to turn away from God!

Be blessed!