Take the Child

Luke 2:27b-28 (NIV) "When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God . . ."

Well. Christmas is over. Time to move on. That's my usual response at this time of year. Time to get back to real life. Yesterday with Dayton's 55 degree weather, the exterior Christmas decorations came down, and we followed suit inside taking down the tree and rearranging the living room back. Time to move on.

For many, this is the attitude at this time of year. I mean, enough already, right? Christmas has been in our face since October, and of course has been amped up to crazy levels since Thanksgiving more that five weeks ago, so we're tired of it right? It was nice while it lasted, but let's get on with it. For others, Christmas provides a welcome escape from reality, from a dreary job, from relationship problems, from financial problems. There is a certain freedom during the Christmas season for some, when the holiday mood and the generosity of people becomes what we wish it was all year long. Some of us dread the end of Christmas and the return to reality.

How does God suggest we deal with the end of the Christmas season? Does the Bible give any direction? The first Christmas was quite an event for Joseph and Mary. The miracle birth of the child. The shepherds coming and praising God! What a celebration! Luke tells us that Mary just took and pondered all this and treasured the memories in her heart. Yet for them, there was a December 26th, and a return 'normal life' and all that was entailed with that.

We see in Luke 2 starting at verse 21 that they need to make a trip to the temple to have the new baby Jesus circumcised in order to keep the law. So the requirements of daily life return for them, and they have to do what they have to do. And then they run into this guy Simeon. And the text says that Simeon, when led by the Holy Spirit to be in the presence of the messiah Jesus, his response was to take the child in his arms and praise God.

I think that is our best response at this time. Take the Child in your arms and praise God! One last time before you get back to your routine, your every day non Christmas holiday life, led by the Holy Spirit into the presence of the messiah - take that child - and all that peace and joy that He brings - take the child in your arms - and praise God!

And as you move into the new year - spend a day (maybe New Year's Day) thinking about how you can take the child in your arms and with you into every day life. How will you take the child in your arms and praise God? How could that perspective at the beginning of each day of 2007 change things? How could it change relationships in your life? How could it change your perspective toward your work? How could it change finanical choices and dealing with uncertainty?

Here's an idea. Try taking the 31 days of January and keep the child in your mind each day. Begin with praising him, and each action and interaction you have, run it through the filter of who you are in Christ and the joy and peace that child in your arms brings to you. May we kick off the new year right by taking the time to pause each day, take the child in our arms, and praising God! Happy New Year!

For You

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you."
Luke 2:11

No word of scripture is unimportant. Sometimes the smallest words make all the difference. Take the passage announcing the birth of Jesus. The angel says to the shepherds, "I bring to you good news." He doesn't just say, "I have some good news." He says in essence, "I have good news and it is for you. In the same way, the angel doesn't say, "A savior was born.", but rather, 'a savior has been born to you.", which is really a clumsy way of translating the thought from greek which is, "Today YOUR SAVIOR was born." He was born for you. Anyone reading of the coming of Jesus can believe that it was a historical fact, and that Jesus was actually born and lived, but it takes a special leap of faith, the faith that God longs so much to give you, to believe that the savior that was born is for you. Jesus was born, lived a perfect life, showed us how to live ,and died unjustly for you, so that you could be reconciled to God to live in his kingdom both now and through eternity. It's for you. Seem hard to swallow? God knows, and he gives faith to those who call on him. A man in the Bible once called out to Jesus, "I want to believe, help me overcome my unbelief." My hope is that if you need to overcome your unbelief that you will adopt that prayer as your own. The one to whom you pray is faithful and He will do it. Merry Christmas

Family Update

I tried to produce a newsletter with some pictures of my trip to Haiti as well as other stuff going on in the family to send out with our Christmas cards. I had trouble printing the thing, and then could not post it in any form on the website or blog, so I am trying to put some pics out there and send the update that way. Matt and Josh started preschool in the fall. They are in a class with half special needs and half 'typical' kids. They are both doing well in their respective classes and mom enjoys the little bit of respite too.
Katherine and Rebecca are doing well. Big sister Katherine is a big second grader at Prass School in Kettering. She is a social butterfly, always on someone's party invitation list. She volunteers at our church's Sunday morning coffee shop and is in Discipleland Club. Little sister Becca is quite a character. She has an opinion on just about everything, and is not afraid to express it.
Christopher is in fifth grade at an online public school called the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT). He is doing a modified curriculum for math and language arts, and is doing mainstream fifth grade level science and social studies. His first quarter was a great success as he pulled down all A's! He is involved in our church's Cite 54 youth group and spends his spare time researching and learning all there is to know about Transformers. He also helps out with the cafe at church and sometimes in Children's Church. Maya took a group of ladies to the Hearts at Home conference in Lansing Michigan the last weekend of October. One lady from our church joined Maya and my mother and two of my sisters for the experience. They all came away with some great tools to use in the home, and even my mom found much useful in supporting her daughters and daughters in law as well as for her job. Also, the MOPS group that Maya and Deb Esala and others had planned launched well in September, and Maya wisely stepped back from leadership in the group to focus on needs at home and to receive support from MOPS. For more information about Hearts at Home click here and for more information about MOPS click here.

Ministry in the Marketplace

Earlier this year, a new 'town center' opened near our church. Known as 'The Greene' this town center is a retail shopping district, complete with stores, entertainment, and luxury apartment living. The complex looks like an old downtown district complete with a town square and the ambiance is really cool. Since it opened, Maya and I have been contemplating the need for ministry in a place like this. There will soon be lots of people living there, not to mention working there and shopping there. Have you ever considered the unique ministry opportunity that exists for people who work in retail? Anyways, we recently found out about a ministry being coordinated at the Greene by a group called Groundz4living. This group has garnered support of the developer who owns the Greene as well as many of the store managers to conduct ministry at the Greene. They plan to offer occasional Christian music offerings in the town square, as well as Christian teaching opportunities for workers, shoppers, and residents of the Greene. The Greene has let them operate a Live Nativity for the Christmas season! Pretty cool stuff! If you google Groundz4living, you'll find some info on them. They don't have a website yet to my knowledge. I think that it is an interesting approach to ministry, but a bold one, to step outside the walls of the church, and go out to the market, rather than building all your programs etc in your church and waiting for people to come to you. Maya and I plan to connect with this group and will update you as to what else we find out. To my knowledge, this is a unique ministry that has not been tried elsewhere.

God bless,
Rich

Haiti 2006

I (Rich) took a mission trip to Haiti at the end of October/beginning of November. I went with a team of doctors and we ran a medical clinic for folks in the area near Leogane Haiti. We saw more than 500 patients in four days. On a personal note, I was able to spend time in prayer, reading, and listening to God and came back to the US with a renewed outlook on ministry and a re-forming vision of what God will do with my family and me to reach out and serve His people. We are in conversation with folks at Lutheran Bible Translators about a possible career shift to Bible translation or literacy in one of the fields that they are involved in. Maya, the kids, and I travel to Chicago to meet with LBT service staff on January 14-16. Obviously, with a family our size and as young as some of us are, we have many considerations to weigh. However, we also have a firm sense of God's leading that we are looking to confirm or redirect through the folks to whom we will be speaking in January. More to come soon! (Now that I remember my password to get on this blog!)