The Christmas Story

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9: 6 NASB)

The Christmas story is never complete without the Easter story because the child in Bethlehem was born to die.

Soren Kierkegaard, pastor, and Christian philosopher, often told this story to his congregation during the Christmas season. There once was a king who had great power and wealth who fell in love with a pauper maiden. He knew he should not love her, him being of royalty and her living in poverty, but nonetheless, he did.  He wondered how he could capture her love.  Being the sovereign monarch, maybe he should just send his soldiers and whisk her away and declare her Queen.  But would she just be acquiescing to his power rather than responding to his love?  He thought about showering her with gifts up to half his kingdom, but would she love him for his wealth and not for himself?  He pondered his dilemma and decided that he only had one choice. He must give up his kingdom and all his royal possessions and power and become a pauper and live like the one he loved. In the end, sacrificial love found a way and triumphed over, wealth, power, and position; winning the affection of the one he loved.

Jesus could have declared us righteous without dying, but it would not have fulfilled the will or the law of God.  He could have forced our obedience to His wishes, but like the King in our story, He wanted to win our love and not usurp it.  So the second person of the Godhead in all His glory and majesty, the one who always was, always is, and always will be, invades time and space, and comes to this planet in the form of a peasant child. He maintains this posture of humility as He walks this earth for thirty-three years and He remains obedient to His Father, even to his death, the death on the cross. But this is not the end of the story.  Though He walked in meekness, there is always great power in humility, as the grave could not hold Him.  He triumphs over that great enigma called death.  And because He rose from the dead, the Bible promises, so shall we, who believe in the Son of God.

So the greatest gift this Christmas morning is that great hope we have of eternal salvation.   We never again have to fear the tyranny of death.  The Bible says in an almost taunting fashion, "Oh death, where is your victory?  Oh death, where is your sting?" (I Corinthians 15:55 NASB) This Christmas morning, whether we have many gifts or only a few under our tree, because of the birth of this baby in Bethlehem, His life, death, and resurrection, we have much for which to be thankful.  As someone once said, “deity met humanity,” so that humanity could embrace immortality.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Podcasts: http://kensblogpodcast.blogspot.com

                http://gleaningspodcast.blogspot.com

Gentleness and Respect

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (I Peter 3:15 NIV).

We must always be ready to defend the Gospel of Christ, but that does not give us the right to be harsh or disrespectful of people with different beliefs than ours.

He is another one of those Moonies I said to myself with disdain.  An Asian looking man had approached me in a parking lot and started to tell me what he believed.  His literature indicated that he was a follower of Sun Myung Moon, who founded the Unification Church whose beliefs were not consistent with orthodox Christian doctrine.  Most Christians considered this group cultist.  I impatiently waited for him to finish his spiel and then I let him have it.  I told him in no uncertain terms that he was a part of a cult and I used scriptural proofs to validate my case.  I walked away thinking, I guess I got him told.  I was pretty sure I had defended the Gospel, but for some reason, I had a sense of unrest in my spirit.  I pondered as to why I felt this way and it became apparent that I had not even come close to dealing with this man with gentleness and respect.

I knew what I had to do.  I searched the parking lot for this man.  As I approached him, he must have been thinking, not this guy again.  I simply told him that I had talked to him in a way that Jesus would never have spoken.  I asked him to forgive me for my attitude.  In our first encounter, it is interesting that all my theological arguments were like water off of a duck’s back.  They are trained to counter these kinds of responses.  But in our second interaction, he was visibly shaken. He had no comeback to a little bit of humility.  We should share the truth with people, but our theological truths need to be validated by the love and respect we show to those to whom we speak.  In my first little diatribe, it was all about me exposing my thoughts and beliefs.  In the latter, I brought Jesus into the conversation which always speaks of the worth and value of the individual.  I think, just maybe, this man saw past my words and saw my heart.

I learned two things that day.  First, God can use our flaws for his good, if we are willing to own up to them.  Second, I realized the Christianity is more readily catch than taught. Yes, we need a proclamation of the good news, but without a corresponding demonstration of it, it becomes mere words. As the poet, Emerson once said, “What you do speaks so loud, that I cannot hear what you say.”  Are we intent on just winning an argument or showing a little gentleness and respect when discussing the claims of the Gospel?

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Podcasts: http://kensblogpodcast.blogspot.com

                http://gleaningspodcast.blogspot.com

God's Chosen Servants

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; (I Corinthians 1:26 NASB)

We all want to be significant, and we are all important in the eyes of our Creator.  The problem is that we often seek our worth through the eyes of man.  God uses ordinary people with hearts inclined toward His.

One Sunday I was asked to speak at a small church near my home in Virginia.  A man greeted me upon arrival at the Church who then let me into the building. In small churches, you often have a pastor who does the preaching and the teaching and then an elder or deacon who does everything else.  I sat down at the back of the church to review my notes for my sermon. The man busily went about making the coffee and setting out the snacks.  He then took a small broom and a dustpan and proceeded to sweep-up between the rows of chairs setup for the service.  As I watched this man, a question came into my mind. Lord, who is more valuable today for this service, him or me?  As I pondered this thought, the answer became clear to me. Neither, we had equal value just a different function.  I asked the Lord a second question.  Lord, who is most pleasing to you?  The answer to the second question came quicker than the first.  The one who does their part of the service with the greatest amount of love in their heart for God. 

Sometimes we confuse value and function.  We do not get value from what we do; we bring value to our work.  Each individual has intrinsic value before God.  Billy Graham and Pat Roberson have a greater function in the Body of Christ than I do.  Therefore, in some areas they have greater privilege.  Jesus gave Peter, James, and John greater access to Himself, not because he valued them more, but that they would have a more significant role in the Kingdom of God.  He loved all his disciples equally. 

We often make the mistake of trying to win the Lord’s approval by how we preform before man.  People pleasers never end up as God pleasers. This is an exercise in futility. We don’t need to strive for what we already have. What does impress the Lord?  It’s not the height or even the breath of our task, but the depth of our love, that motivates us to serve that catches the eye of the Father.  It is not how we serve but why that gets His attention.  Is it done out of a motivation of love?  Those who serve around a church in roles that do not bring a lot of public applause just may be God’s heroes. Remember there are not many wise, mighty, or noble.  The next time you walk past one setting up chairs in you Church without taking notice, you may have missed an opportunity to interact with one of God’s chosen servants.  That day when I spoke in that Church the most honored servant may not have been the one in the pulpit but the one sweeping the floor.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Podcasts: http://kensblogpodcast.blogspot.com

                http://gleaningspodcast.blogspot.com