ALARM!

Every morning I get up at 5:30 AM to run on the treadmill and exercise. When the alarm goes off I get up, put my contacts in, and get ready to hit the treadmill. This morning, like most mornings in our house, I heard multiple alarms going off between the time I woke up and the time I was out the door headed to the garage. (My favorite is "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top that one of my boys uses as his alarm on his phone!) Now there are three other people who live in my house and I counted at least five times when I heard alarms going off. My youngest son is like me, the alarm goes off and he is up and at it. My oldest son and my wife are cut from the same cloth. They unashamedly set multiple alarms to "wake them up" before they actually get out of the bed.

As I listened to another alarm going off this morning for someone who had no intentions of getting out of bed at that time, I thought about how this practice of setting multiple alarms or hitting the snooze button works in some people's spiritual lives. There are many people in this world who profess faith in Christ but do not take seriously the "alarms" we read about in God's Word. What has happened is they have conditioned themselves to ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit in their life. When He (the Holy Spirit) convicts them of their sin they simply hit the snooze button. When He urges them to worship God with other believers they push the snooze button. What happens is they eventually quit hearing the alarms all together. They end up growing cold towards God and the faith they at one time professed had changed their life. Don't believe me? Look around any given church on a Sunday morning and you'll notice on average that half the church (those who are members on the roll) is not there for worship. Why? Some are sick or out of town, but the vast majority of the ones who are not there have simply grown cold towards their faith and it is no longer a priority in their life.

There are others in this world who have never put their faith in Christ and ignore the alarms of God as well. They hear friends inviting them to church or inviting them to put their faith in Christ. What do they do when those alarms are sounding? They push the snooze button. Some think, "There will be time for that sort of stuff later." Others believe, "I've done good things so I will get in to heaven." There are a host of excuses people will give for hitting the snooze button on God's alarms of faith in their life. We aren't promised tomorrow. There is only one Way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). All the other excuses people give don't hold up against the truths of God's Word. In the end, each person must make their own decision for Christ and believers must be faithful to still be the alarms sounding in their lives as to the truth of the Gospel.

Today I encourage you to wake up to the spiritual alarms sounding in your life. This means recognizing the alarm for what it is and then responding to it. It means getting into action and doing whatever God is compelling you to do. If it is taking seriously the faith you once held dear, then do it. Start back to church, get involved in the life of the church, spend time in prayer and studying God's Word. If it is surrendering your life to God's call to salvation, then stop making excuses and follow Him. His grace is greater than anything you have ever done and it is powerful enough to see you through your darkest days. Give your life to Him so He can transform your life. Whatever the spiritual alarm is going off in your life, quit hitting the snooze button and wake up to the alarm that is sounding!


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Shampoo with a Brain

I heard an advertisement on TV that caught my attention on Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church. The advertisement was for a shampoo that would lessen the amount of gray hair the more you used it. It was touted as "shampoo with a brain." The ad suggested using the shampoo until you reached the desired ratio of color to gray. My guess is it would last for a certain amount of time and then you would need to reapply to get rid of the gray and add more color.

Now I must admit that this is a rather interesting way for men to reduce the amount of gray hair they are showing. I, however, fall into the other camp when it comes to gray hair. I am one of those who follow the old saying, "As long as it doesn't turn loose, it can turn whatever color it wants!" Not that there is anything wrong with changing the color of your hair because I know plenty of folks who do it, but when you change the color of your hair what are you doing? You are changing the appearance of what the world sees of you.

As I listened to the advertisement I couldn't help but think about how this shampoo does to hair what we try to do in the spiritual areas of our life. In essence, hair dye or gray reducing shampoo does nothing more than hide the real person behind a color that will eventually fade, revealing the real person once again. The color covers up who we really are. We are all guilty of "coloring" the spiritual side of our lives to show the world something different than who we really are. This is never as true as when some people speak with a pastor. As a pastor, you get used to people bringing up God once they find out what you do. It's usually the most obvious when it is someone who doesn't know you. The person who was swearing about someone in one breath and then (after finding out a pastor is there) starts praising God in the next. I strive really hard as a pastor to not allow myself to be differentiated from the rest of the church. Although it is impossible to completely do it, I work to show who I am apart from the calling God has placed on my life. But regardless of how hard I try at it, I still see people "coloring" their spiritual performance in front of me and, at times, other folks in the church. It would be much simpler and much less exhausting to simply show the real you, rather than hiding who you really are behind a mask.

Years ago the band Casting Crowns had a hit song that spoke to this very issue in the lives of Christians. The song was titled Stained Glass Masquerade. As you can imagine, the song was about the masks Christians wear to hide who they really are. The problem is the song was spot on to the actions of Christians for generations. What followers of Christ need to do is be authentic in who they are spiritually and not "color" the person they show to the world. Now I'm not saying you bare your soul to the world and put all your problems out there for the world to see. But you can show the world that you are a real person, with real problems, and in need of help from a very real God. This is what is missing in our world today. Christians living like people who don't have it all together and who really need God's help every day.

My encouragement to you today is to stop "coloring" who you are spiritually. Whether it is in front of your pastor, your friends at church, or someone else, show them who you really are. You'll find it is way less exhausting and far more rewarding to show the world the real you.


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Are You Well Trained?

A few months ago, I was working around our farm and opened a gate near the barn so I could drive into the pasture. I closed the gate behind me and went to work in the pasture. When I came out I opened the gate and drove out. I was in and out through that open gate a few more times and then needed to run an errand. You guessed it! I left the gate open and returned a few hours later to find the gate wide open. I first checked the barnyard for signs the cows had ventured out of the pasture (this means looking for cow pies in the barnyard). When I was convinced the cows were still in the pasture I closed the gate and finished my work. This time I dodged a close one thanks to some well-trained cows. Our cows are so used to this gate being closed that even when we have it open and they are near it, they don't even notice its open. Now if a tree falls across the fence, all bets are off. They will gradually migrate over the downed fence and explore new territories, including neighboring housing developments. Maybe those cows are not as well trained as I thought.

This experience came to mind this morning as I fed our cows and I opened this gate. As I was preparing for my day and remembering this open gate, I thought about how well trained you have to be in your spiritual life. Often times it is not the overly obvious temptations in life that get us into trouble. We usually do not have a problem avoiding the big open gates toward temptation. We are generally well trained enough to avoid the big glaring temptations to sin. We will avoid things we should not see or avoid places that would go against our faith. But like the cow that is grazing next to a downed fence, we find ourselves stepping over the less noticeable barriers to temptations. We find ourselves exploring areas that have been off limits to us, only to find out we should not have been there in the first place.

If my cows were really as well trained as I wish they were, then I would not have to worry about open gates or downed fences. If they were really that well-trained I would not need a fence at all! But just like livestock need a fence, we need barriers in our spiritual life to keep us in check. God's Word, the Bible, is full of plenty of fences that protect us from ourselves. When we learn to live within the boundaries of what is acceptable to God, we will not find ourselves limited and missing out on the "fun" stuff of this world. Exactly the opposite occurs, we find freedom. We find freedom from sin when we train ourselves to live inside of the barriers God gives us in His Word.

Today, ask yourself the question posed as the title of today's post, "Are you well trained?" Are you well trained spiritually or do you still wander through the open gates of temptation? If you find yourself struggling to live inside the boundaries God has given you in His Word, then make a fresh commitment today to do so. You'll find freedom like you have never experienced before and you'll find it inside the boundaries.


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Do the right thing.

This morning I was exercising in our garage when I noticed something out of place. I looked at a rack of screwdrivers hanging over my work bench and saw one of them was out of place. This screwdriver was not in its place and was leaning over on the other screwdrivers (see the picture to the right). I know for a fact that I didn't put this screwdriver back like that so it must have been one of my boys. One of them worked on his bike yesterday afternoon so I am guessing, in a hurry, he did not take the time to put the screwdriver up correctly.

The ironic thing about this is that Misty and I harp on our kids about doing things right the first time. The mantra that is repeated regularly around our house is "Do it right or do it again." We have tried to instill in our boys the necessity to do things right and to do them right the first time. Our harping this mantra at our kids is not so much about keeping them from redoing their work as it is about them doing the right thing every time. When we constantly do the right thing, we never have to question what we should do in a certain situation. There is no question about whether we break the rules this one time and not do the right thing, but instead we know we will do the right thing without even thinking about it. This is the lesson we are hoping our sons will take away from our years of "training" or harping, whichever you want to call it.

The real challenge is not always doing the right thing, but doing the right thing when it is the difficult thing to do. We will inevitably be faced with situations in this life that require us to do what is right, even though it is not easy or popular. When faced with those situations, the regular and constant practice of doing what is right will give you the confidence to stick to your guns. 

We live in a society that no longer has a fixed view of absolute truth. Because our society no longer sees truth as absolute, truth is left to be determined by the situation. It can be dictated by societal pressures. It can be determined by the prevailing cultural winds. According to the world truth, and essentially what is right, can change depending on what is popular on a given day. But God's Word tells us something else. God's Word tells us that if we are a follower of Christ, then our moral compass is dictated by Him and His Word. Not by the pressures of a situation. Not by what is popular in our culture. Not by what is easy, but by what is right according to our faith. By doing what is right we can expect to receive God's blessings. 1 Kings 11 is one of many places in the Bible that reinforces this idea. When God gave Jeroboam 10 tribes of Israel to rule, God promised blessings on Jeroboam's family line for doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. This is one of many examples where God promises to bless us for doing what is right. We can expect when we do what is right, regardless of the backlash from man, that we will receive blessings from God.

My encouragement to you today is to make it a daily, minute by minute, habit of doing what is right, regardless of the situation. When you do, you'll never have to question how to respond to a situation and you'll reap the blessings of God for doing what is right, not what is easy.


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Should you go Fifty Shades Darker?

With the second installment in The Fifty Shades Trilogy set to be released this week on February 10, it seemed like as good a time as any to republish this post. It was written in 2015 at the time the first installment, Fifty Shades of Grey, was released. The truths contained in the post doesn't change with time or with which installment is released. If nothing else, I hope this post will cause you to carefully consider whether you should see Fifty Shades Darker and what value any of these movies add to your spiritual life and marriage.

____________________________________________________________________________

Originally Posted: 2/9/2015

I want to preface what I am about to say with this little fact. I've not read the book 50 Shades of Grey and I have no plans to see the movie. So I have limited knowledge about the content of the book or what the movie will contain. That being said I've read enough about the book and movie to understand the gist of what the story entails. With that in mind, let's get started!

Misty and I were talking a few nights ago after seeing the trailer for 50 Shades of Grey on TV. She said she was going to see the movie and wanted to know what I thought. I told her I didn't think it was a movie she would want to see, but she needed to read reviews and then decide for herself if it was a movie she ought to see. I told her I could no more tell her not to see the movie than I could tell her to wash my clothes or cook my supper. But see my wife has a twisted sense of humor in the fact that she likes to make comments from time to time to see what kind of rise she can get out of me. You'd think after nearly 13 years of marriage I'd be able to spot these set ups but I can't. She's good at them. She made a comment that endeared her to me all the more after she didn't get quite the rise she expected from me. She basically said she didn't need to see that movie because she respected me as her husband and because of what I mean to her. To me that comment showed me that she wants to avoid one big gray area by skipping 50 Shades of Grey.

Now this post isn't about guilt tripping a person into not seeing 50 Shades of Grey. It's not about saying you don't respect your spouse if you do see it. What I want is for a person to read this post and consider whether they should see 50 Shades of Grey or similar movies. I will be honest with you I have watched movies and witnessed scenes that I had no business watching. Those images are scenes that cannot be unseen. Misty and I watched a movie a few weeks ago that surprised us with scenes that caught us off guard. Unfortunately Hollywood believes that what sells a movie is sex and foul language. It's almost unavoidable when you watch a movie nowadays. But what about movies that blatantly push a distorted view of sex, much less God's intentions for sex. When it comes to a movie like this you have to ask, "What is the reason for going to see 50 Shades of Grey?" Some will say because they read the book or because their friends are going to see it. Some will say they are taking their spouse to see it so its okay. In the end it's not about the justification we give for seeing the movie. It's about what viewing the movie does to us. 

Most will say they can compartmentalize the movie from their normal way of thinking but you really can't. What we take in affects our view of the world around us. In the end we are led towards a place of compromise when we watch a movie that blatantly distorts and perverts something that God created as good. We find ourselves in a gray area between upholding the purity of mind that God expects from us and the obvious acceptance of sin as being okay. The catch is that Satan doesn't have to get you to the dark side. He just needs to get you into the gray area. When he does this...you've already lost. 

So the real question to ask is what is the benefit of watching 50 Shades of Grey? How does it benefit you as a person (or even as a Christian)? How does it benefit your marriage? The truthful answer is it won't benefit anything. You as a believer will only have watched something that will tear at the holiness God intends for you to pursue. As for your marriage, it won't help anything there either. Just ask yourself honestly whether you should see the movie and I think the answer will be pretty clear. 

I'll close with this. I'm sure some read this wanting to hear me tell them why they can't go see this movie. I can no more tell you not to see this movie than I can tell you that you have to read this blog. In the end the decision is yours, not mine. I just want you to consider whether you should see it or not. If you expected to read a post full of Bible verses condemning 50 Shades of Grey and other movies with pornographic images in it then you've read the wrong post. Although I don't think anyone would necessarily need it but if you want some verses that will help you decide whether you should watch it or not, here are a few to consider.

Job 31:1 - It's up to us what we choose to look at.
1 Corinthians 10:23 - Just because it's available to watch doesn't mean it benefits us.
1 Peter 1:15-16 - We are to pursue holiness in all we do.
Psalm 51:10 - Do you desire the purity of heart that God desires for you?

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Your Choices Determine Your Destination

This past weekend my wife and I celebrated a milestone in our relationship. 20 years ago, we started dating while in high school. The two of us have been inseparable for more than half of our lives. We went back to the place we went on our first date and reminisced about all we had done together over the last 20 years. High school days when we were struggling to make our relationship work. College when we were learning to be adults. The struggles of the early years of marriage. The days when we were told we could not have kids. The joys of God's blessings as parents. And everything in between. 

The one thing we looked back on, and still cannot believe we strongly considered, was getting married the week after we graduated high school. We were at the beach with friends following graduation and the idea was floated around by the two of us. We thought we would just elope and start our lives together since we were out of high school. Our rationale was we could find a way to pay for our own college tuition and still enjoy the benefits of being married. We talked about it during the week, and thankfully for the two of us, we decided to not get hitched and instead wait until after we finished college. We were married after college and the rest is history.

Looking back on it now, nearly 18 years removed and with much more life experience, we are both confident we made the right decision for us. Had we married then our marriage may not have withstood the challenges of the first five years of marriage, which are challenging under the best of circumstances. We probably would not have gone to college and we probably could not have afforded to visit the fertility specialists that resulted in our two sons. Our lives would have been drastically different than they are today. All because of one choice. All because we would have said "Yes" instead of "No."

I tell that lengthy example to point out that the choices we make determine our destination in life. Poor decisions will inevitably lead us into troubled waters. Wise decisions will help us avoid those same troubled waters. From one minute to the next we are faced with choices that affect us, our spouse, our children, our family, our friends, our co-workers, and unknown strangers. We can list millions of hypothetical scenarios, but I am sure you get the point. Your choices determine your destination. Poor decisions will bring you to a destination you probably would not want to be at. Wise decisions will bring you to a destination you can be happy with.

The Bible speaks very strongly to the point of making wise choices. The book of Proverbs tells us the importance of wisdom and understanding over foolishness. Many other places in the Bible we read about the benefits of making wise choices. So how do we make these ever important and life-preserving wise choices? Simply put, we use godly wisdom. In the book of James, we are told that if we do not have wisdom and we need it, then we "should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." Through this promise, God offers to help equip us to make wise choices that will impact our lives in positive, God-honoring ways.

The longer I pastor and the longer I live, the more I find myself praying this specific prayer. Seeking God's wisdom to lead our church, to lead my family, and to make wise decisions in every part of my life that reflects God's glory and His will for my life. I have found Him to be more than faithful to this promise in James 1:5. Do I always follow the wisdom given to me? No. Do I pay the consequences for making unwise choices? Yes. But do I follow much more of the godly wisdom given to me now than I did 20 years ago? Definitely. In another 20 years, I hope to follow more of God's wisdom than I do today.

I encourage you today to start making it a habit of making wise choices and asking God to give you the wisdom you need to make those choices. Down the road, you'll be glad you did and you'll be able to see the benefits of choices made that kept you from going down the wrong path.


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A Godless Generation

I recently turned my radio back on in my truck after having it off for several months. This sounds a little odd considering I like music and have always listened to the radio. For several months now I have spent my time on the road in a different way. I usually spent much of the time I was on the road in thought and prayer. Concerns about our church, church members, family, our farm, and many other things had preoccupied me. The music was a distraction to my thoughts, so I turned off the radio. During this sabbatical from the radio one thought seemed to recur more often than others. This recurring thought was more of a nightmare than anything, but nevertheless this thought was about the Godless generations being raised in our country.

Don't get me wrong, I realize there have always been those who were raised to believe something contrary to what the Bible teaches. I realize there are plenty who were raised outside of the church because their parents and family never understood what God did for them by sending Jesus to die for their sins. Even though this group continues to grow, those aren't the people that came to mind while I drove.

The ones that came to mind were those who were being raised by parents who have faith in God through Christ, but are not raising their children to do the same. In the Baptist denomination, we believe you cannot lose your salvation in Christ based on a particular sin you may commit. (I realize there is a deep theological discussion that can go on about this topic but this is not the point of today's post.) With that being said, there are an alarming number of people who were raised in church, professed their faith in Christ, and have now grown to adulthood. Many of these adults are now parents who seem to not take their faith very seriously and their children are paying the price. The parents have a relationship with God through Christ, even if it is a cold relationship at best, but nonetheless they have the security of salvation. Their kids are left in the cold spiritually and don't know about the love, peace, and grace that God offers them through Christ. The sad reality of this is that there will be parents watching in heaven as their children are judged by the Righteous Judge and are thrown into hell (Revelation 20:15).

Please don't think that I am one of those preachers who try to scare people out of hell. I've never approached ministry that way and I never will. But the truth of the matter is, there are generations of children being raised in our neighborhoods who have no understanding of salvation, while mom and dad rest easy in their salvation security. There will be a judgment one day and there will be people, without faith in Christ, who will be thrown into hell. Some of those watching the judgment will see the very children they raised be cast into eternal punishment. Godless generations are being raised by those who profess to be Christians. Isn't that the greatest and saddest of ironies?

In nearly 13 years of ministry, I have watched as many parents with good intentions succumb to the pressures of this life and give up raising their children in church where they are exposed to the Gospel. But as the old saying goes, "The path to hell is paved with good intentions." If you are one of those parents I plead with you to get your act together and start doing what you know to be right. Raise your children in church and live a life worthy of the faith you've placed in Christ. If you need to repent and return to God, then get serious about your faith and do it. The greatest benefit will be knowing you've raised a child that has faith in God, rather than one who will be separated from Him for all of eternity.


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Out of Place

Last Friday I did something I never expected to do. I brought our farm's cattle trailer and parked it in the side yard at my house. I had agreed to help a friend move some livestock early on Monday morning and wouldn't have the time on Monday morning to get it from the farm. So I dropped the trailer beside my garage in the yard until Monday morning. The only thing is that trailer looked really out of place in the new development we live in. Yes, others have utility trailers, campers, or boats in their yards. But as I've jogged in our neighborhood I've never once seen another livestock trailer. I was a bit amused by the fact that our family had to be the only ones in the neighborhood to have a livestock trailer and how much that trailer seemed to be out of place.

When it comes to the Christian, they are to be as out of place in this world as that livestock trailer was in my neighborhood. For the believer in Christ, we are to be a peculiar people who stand out from our surroundings. We are to be "in the world, but not of the world." Our thoughts and actions are to be completely different from the world around us. The reason being the Christian's priorities and beliefs are completely different from those of the world. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world." This means we are not to be molded and shaped into something that resembles the attitudes, beliefs, and motives of this world. Instead we are to resemble Christ and His holiness. No we won't ever be perfect like Christ, but we can strive for the type of holiness He exhibited here on earth. This holiness, when practiced in today's secular society, will stick out like a sore thumb. Others will take notice and, in a good way, you'll find yourself out of place.

Start today to conform your life to the standards of heaven rather than the standards of this world. When you do, you won't mind being out of place.


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The Flash

Over the recent snowy weekend, my oldest son and I binged on Netflix and watched the first season of the superhero TV show The Flash. I enjoyed watching the earlier version more than 25 years ago and enjoyed watching the reboot with my son. In case you're unfamiliar with this particular DC Comics superhero, here is what he does. He runs really fast and defeats the bad guys. Not much to it but it does have a good story line in this recent adaptation.

As with most superhero stories, there is something physically different about the hero that allows him to take on his newfound powers and be the superhero he was designed to be. On the most basic level there is something inside of the superhero that needs to be awakened to bring to life the powers they will use to save the world. For some it's bombardment by gamma rays. For others it is a scientific anomaly such as a radioactive spider or a super soldier serum. And for others, like the Flash, it is a bolt of lightning and an explosion at a scientific research facility that gives them their powers. On the inside though there was the beginnings of a superhero long before they came into contact with their superpower catalyst.

Every person whoever lived has had something similar inside of them. Some suppress it and say it isn't there. Others accept it and allow it to impact their life in an unbelievable, superhero-type way. A man named Blaise Pascal, who lived more than 300 years ago, described this interior "thing" best. He said, and I paraphrase, there is a God-shaped vacuum inside human heart that can only be filled by God. This Christian philosopher shared in modern terms what the Bible has told us for more than 2,000 years. There is a longing in the human heart for God that can only be satisfied by God. In Acts 17:27 (NIV), Paul puts it this way, that God created man in such a way "that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." God designed us with an internal GPS pointing us toward Him. Ecclesiastes 3:11(NIV), written by the wisest man ever, King Solomon, says "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men." So not only has God placed a desire in us to pursue Him but also a desire to spend eternity with Him.

The best thing any of us can do is to give in to our internal, God-given desire and pursue Him. We ought to first pursue Him through a relationship through Jesus Christ (you can learn more about doing this here). Once you've started to pursue Him through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then pursue Him daily. Spend time in prayer and converse with Him. Read and study His Word so you know what He expects of you and what He wants to teach you. Also, spend time worshiping and serving Him as you grow in your relationship with Him. As you do, you'll find the God-shaped hole in your spiritual heart filled by Him and you won't need to fill it with the meaningless things of this life that will leave you empty spiritually. So choose today to fill that longing inside of you. Either through starting a relationship with Christ or by practicing the spiritual disciplines that are necessary to fill that God-shaped hole in your spiritual heart.


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Go to church on Christmas.

This year has been full of surprises. Our region of the country has experienced a severe drought for months. The presidential election did not turn out like many thought it would. Laws were put in place to make sure people knew which bathroom they needed to use. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time since 1908. A year of surprises is a good description for 2016. One surprise that some are finding out about as the month of December starts is that Christmas is on a Sunday this year. For some this is a surprise they didn't anticipate and frankly, they'd rather do without it. To others, they embrace the fact that the day we celebrate the Birth of Christ is on the day Christians set aside for worship each week. 

So far I haven't heard of any churches in our area that are canceling church altogether on Christmas. Many have an adjusted schedule of services but most every church in our area has plans for worship on Sunday, December 25. Since there will be churches having services on Christmas Day, I encourage you to go to church on Christmas. I know, "But Pastor, ___________." You can fill in the blank. There are plenty of reasons people can give for not going to church on Christmas Day (some of those reasons, I mean excuses, are used throughout the year). Consider setting aside the excuses and worshiping God on Christmas. Here are just a few reasons why you should attend church on Christmas Day.

It's Christmas Day!
If there is ever a day when people should gather in God's house to worship Him then Christmas Day should be at the top of everyone's list. We worship God because of the relationship we have with Him through Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Without Jesus' birth there would be no death. Without the crib there is no cross. Outside of Resurrection Sunday, the occasional Christmas Sunday should be a priority for Christians.

Order your Sunday around your faith, not around your culture.
For nearly 2,000 years Christians have set aside the first day of the week, Sunday, as their time to worship the risen Savior. Christians have been prioritizing their schedule, their very lives, around their faith and worship of God for two millennia now. Why should we now start prioritizing our faith around our culture's view of a holiday many celebrate for the wrong reason? They shouldn't. In a world that demands so much compromise from Christians to "fit in", worshiping God on Christmas is a small way to stay true to your faith.

If you aren't a Christian, attending church on Christmas Day will help you understand the real reason for Christmas.
Our culture has slowly changed the view of Christmas from being a day focused on the greatest Gift given by God, to a day focused on material gifts. What has been lost in translation is that Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. His birth started a 33 year progression through which Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life. Because of that perfect and sinless life, Jesus was able to die on a cross in our place, so we can have our sins forgiven. With our sins forgiven we receive eternal life and a right relationship with God. All of this is possible because of a tiny baby born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago (Luke 2). If you attend worship at a church on Christmas Day, chances are that the pastor will elaborate on this and help you make sense of any questions you might have on Jesus and Christmas.

I realize that for most people Christmas is a very hectic time of the year. There is rushing from this family event to another get together. Presents to put in the car and food to cook. Miles to travel and plenty of rushing around. But let me share one last piece of advice with you. If you go to worship on Christmas Day, the presents will still be there to be opened when worship is over. Lunch at Grandma's house will still be ready to eat. But more importantly, you will be able to slow down and focus for a little while on the God who gave us Christmas in the first place. And you never know, you might come away with a newfound appreciation for what you're celebrating on Christmas Day.


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