The mantra of many modern churches is that people matter to God.  This includes those who have not yet believed and those who have already crossed the line of faith in Christ.  The pendulum swing of the local church towards seeker driven ministry over the past twenty five years has caused some leaders to question its effect on the health of their sheep.

Every so often I hear a person emphasizing the date he or she was saved. Some even go so far as to say that if you don’t know when you were saved you aren’t really saved.

A new year often brings new projects, new classes, new jobs, even new romance. We are hardwired from the factory to long for the next new thing. And yet the joy of the new doesn’t last. The New York Times reports that “newlyweds enjoy a big happiness boost that lasts, on average, for just two years…"

Today in my email inbox I received a note from a pastor and friend telling me about the disinviting of Louis Giglio to give the benediction at President Obama's inauguration and an article written in response speaking of a rising McCarthyism in our society, exposing a non-tolerant form of public square censorship especially against positions tied to the Christian faith.
 

This is a small list of reasons why I believe kids more easily accept the Gospel and why adults don’t:

Each of us deals with days of darkness, sorrow, and pain. They are as much a part of life as times of laughter and sunshine. During such moments I sometimes struggle to believe that God loves me and hears my cries of pain. When you can’t clearly see God’s purposes, you too, may find it difficult to believe in his love.

Several women gather in a small African hut on Tuesday mornings to praise Jesus. Most are from the same tribe; a couple of them are missionaries. There are no decorated tables or spiral bound study books. Only a few can read. They walk long distances to get there each week. And, they have names.

Part 2 of the Table Podcast on sexuality and homosexuality is now posted. It is focused on research in the area.
 
Here is the link:
 
http://www.dts.edu/thetable/play/homosexuality-part-2/

I love watching Downton Abbey, the mini-series with a chronology that begins the day the Titanic sank. And I’m a fan of the latest musical version of Les Misérables, Victor Hugo’s magnificent story set during the June Rebellion in Paris. If you’re anything like me, one of your favorite ways to learn history is to watch or read it in story form.

For the New Year I’m rehearsing the truth of an oldie but goodie, Psalm 23.   It’s rich, profound, and best of all, true.  So followers of Christ, I invite you to forget its familiarity and re-live it with me today as if you’ve never heard it before.

I am not only podcasting with the Howard G. Hendricks Center and the Table podcast (www.dts.edu/the table). I also did a podcast posted this week on the issue of supposed Bible contradictions for Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow. 
 

Radical is defined as someone who advocates significant and often extreme change. I'm challenging you to be radical this year, not in the sense that you rebel against authority, or become extremist in your thinking and actions, or ditch a wise graciousness, but in the sense that you are more sold out to Jesus, more willing to take a risk, more generous with your resources, and more open to significant and extreme change in your life. The times call for you to shed your timidity, face your fears, and get out there for Jesus in a big way. Why? Because the world is in chaos, people are desperate for Jesus, and your days are numbered.

    Often encouragement comes in the form of praise or a word of kindness. Someone says an encouraging word because they noticed something about you or something that you did. Maybe you performed your job incredibly well or have incredibly consistency. Maybe you did something extraordinary or maybe something ordinary.

The new podcast on homosexuality and the church was posted today for the Table podcast from Dallas Theological Seminary. This will be released in parts throughout January. This first installment discusses homosexuality and its relationship to sexuality in general in a biblical and social context.

Happy New Year!!!  2013 is here and with the start of a new year comes new resolutions, new beginnings, new accomplishments, new opportunities, new life, and new blessings from God.

Professor Amos Kloner recently went public with his reaction to the Jesus tomb at a presentation in Israel. This discussion goes back to a special aired nationally in 2007. There was an attempt to confront him at this conference last week in Israel by the original producer of the special, Simcha Jacobovici. It has revived the debate over the tomb and the so called find on the net.

The Christmas story is not complete until the journey of the wise men is told. Their visit, celebrated on January 6, marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas and is also known in the church calendar as Epiphany – “the appearing”.

I watched some of the New Years Eve events on the major networks. The celebrations are filled with so much optimism as the calendar turns to 2013.  The problems, struggles and challenges that existed in 2012 and long before travel with us into the new calendar.  Although we believe we have the ability to see a greater potential for change simply because we cross over into a new year.

Most people's New Year's resolutions involve things to add or incorporate into your life: losing weight, reading through the Bible, decluttering your house, filing your income tax before April 15. (I hereby make a public commitment on that last one. Feel free to ask me about it.)

But some people don't need to add anything else, they need to LET GO.

 
One of my favorite songs is called Shine by Newsboys. The song goes through a series of “about-face” changes that can happen when you “Shine before all men and glorify the Lord.” The line that catches me most says, “The truth is in the proof is when you hear your heart start asking what’s my motivation?”
 
What IS my motivation? Why am I in the ministry I am in? Why am I scheduling this outreach or using this curriculum? What’s my motivation?

New Year's Eve. All over the world tonight, people will gather to celebrate, watch the ball drop or, of course, make life-changing New Year's resolutions. By Valentine's day, though, most of those resolutions will be only guilt-producing memories. We're not what we want to be.

Christmas is a river. Specifically, the St. Lawerence River. Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, I climb in my little Christmas barrel and swing into the current. Home decorating, gift shopping, cooking and baking, company coming, reaching out to those who need it—I ride the accelerating flow of Christmas, occasionally slowing in an eddy of candle light, advent reflection or quiet carols, then back out into the whitewater of mailing gifts, sending cards, airport pick-ups, faster and faster until it’s Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Niagra Falls and we’re over the edge, down the drop…and then…about now…I pop up downstream and think…ok, where was I before Christmas swept me away? Where was I and where do I want to go?

Hos 4:12-14 My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good.

Today our Christmas tree will get stuffed back into its white cardboard box. The garland will be wound into bundles and packed into plastic containers. The gifts we received will be hung in closets and tucked into drawers.
 

 
 
Perhaps remnants of pieces of Christmas wrapping paper still lay on the carpet floor. The Christmas tree in all its glory continues to stand tall, but some of its needles lay brown on the floor. And a few wrapped gifts still remain under the tree awaiting their owners.

No, this is not a deeply theological statement; it’s more of an observation and a hunch!  I base this on my collective observations of Christmas and my kid’s reactions to the gifts they received.  Let’s start from the beginning and I’ll try to explain the title. 

 
Many Christian pilgrimages to Israel include an optional excursion into Petra, an amazing UNESCO site famous for its rose-colored, rock-cut architecture, and made more famous by Indiana Jones. But strangely such excursions often leave out one of the holiest sites in the world—Bethany Beyond the Jordan.
 

“Beauty creates energy.” A quote received recently from a good friend. Perhaps that explains how energized we often feel during the Christmas season. We enjoy the red and green, lights, sights, smells and sounds of one of our favorite holidays even as we scurry about with our lists and wrapping.

I wonder how Jesus would have responded to the all-faith's service last Sunday night for the Newtown mourners. Millions of us joined them, either in person or via media, in the prayer service, where seemingly sincere Protestant pastors, a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, and a little Muslim boy, sang, spoke, or prayed words of comfort to a devastated New England community. While some religious leaders practically apologized for their beliefs, asking listeners to "worship in your own way", others did not. And although differences were obvious, each minister went out of his or her way, at least in body language, to honor their fellow ministers.