Reason For The Season

Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings... very soon saying "Merry Christmas" as a form of greeting at this time of the year will just very well be a thing of the past. The caveat is that this is not farthest from the truth we are close to getting there to where we who believe in the true meaning of Christmas will be frowned upon. People seem to take for granted the true reason for the season and its essence. Less we all forget over two thousand years ago a child was born inside a manger not as oppulent as what we see in many of the nativity scenes displayed during Christmas but a place filled with so much gunk. Don't even bother asking about the sanitary conditions back then during His birth coz' it was at the bottom of the food chain to say the least. That being said this humble birth was the beginning of hope and the source of salvation for many. This Christmas may we never forget why we are celebrating it in the first place let us not stop ourselves from having the audacity to greet people a "Merry Christmas" instead of Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings in this post modern age. I for one am not afraid to say to all of you..."Have a Merry Christmas"..."Jesus is the reason for the season!!!".

Luke 2

Godly Contentment

Several days ago I recieved a copy of People Magazine in our mail, and as I was browsing through the pages I chanced upon an article that really caught my attention. So I decided to blog about it...

Tom Hseieh could be living the American dream. An immigrant from Taiwan, he worked hard in school got into a good college and today heads an L.A. based tecommunications consulting firm. His annual pay:$200,000. So where's the big house and the fancy car? "We could have that lifestyle," Hseih says. "But it's not real." What's real, for Hseih is his deep faith and desire to help others. So Hseieh, 36. wife Bree, 31 and 13 month daughter Kadence live on a modest $38,000 a year. The rest of Tom's income goes to charity, including Servant Partners, a Christian group he and Bree belong to that sends young adults into urban areas to spread Christ's teachings and practice community activism. The family lives in a two bedroom duplex in South Pomona, a community battered by crime and unemployment. There, Hseih and his wife talk to young people about getting on a better path, and lead efforts to make the streets safer.

For godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 1Tim 6:6-7

1Timothy 6:3-10

Djembe

Whenever I play my djembe drum, I am like in a different dimension devoid fom all the concerns of this world. A week ago when I played in front of the congregation I purposely shut myself off from the crowd and within a few moments I was transported to a world where I was performing only for an Audience Of One. He was draped in a robe so pure and white and as I kept playing I slowly raised my head up to take a glance at Him and as our eyes connected He gave me a smile as if to say..."Well done my good and faithful child...Well done!".

Matthew 25:14-30

I'm No Sampras

I've never been a sportsminded individual, back in the Philippines I would go swimming regularly at the subdivision clubhouse as my form of excercise, I also went fishing with my friends every so often. I guess these were the closest to sports that I have ever involved myself with. Several months ago during our Men's Fellowship I was taught how to play tennis by such gentle teachers and brothers in Christ who patiently showed me the steps on how to play the game. Their names are Glenn and Albert, they both switched places in patiently teaching me the moves but I SUCKED big time, I am even too embarassed to share exactly how I played. One thing I learned from the both of them though was that I should keep my eyes always towards the direction of the ball. When I returned home after my otherwise humiliating first tennis game my wife asked me how it went and she became very intersted in learning how to play tennis. I spoke to Glenn about it and he and his wife were only too gracious enough to accomodate us within their very hectic schedule. It was a Tuesday morning when we met for our tennis clinic under Glenn's tutelage and much to my surprise when he started serving the balls I would hit them with much dexterity as opposed to the first time I played the game. My eyes stayed focused on the ball and I enjoyed the game immensely. Glenn's style of teaching/coaching reminded me so much of how God works in our lives, I am reminded for example of the time He called Moses and Moses kept on insisting that he felt a certain amount of inadequacy to perform the task that God had commanded him to do. Gradually though Moses developed the adequacy to perform what God wanted him to do and then some. It takes baby steps for us to see the changes in our lives after recieving Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, many times we fall and feel so dejected for failing Him but He has never treated us with disdain on the contrary He lifts us up but not without a reminder or two that continued disobedience can have its consequences. Then we move on and learn from our failures. Following God's call and walking daily with Him reminds me of how Glenn and Albert so patiently taught me how to play the game of tennis. Keeping our eyes focused on God the way I kept my eyes focused on the ball can result into a successful game in this huge tennis court called LIFE.

Jeremiah 18:1-10

Schizo/Stoked

They're all calling it "Crazy Tuesday", this morning as soon as I hopped out of bed I immediately (as is always my habit) turned on my T.V. and checked on today's weather. The Meteorologist reported that it is going to be cold in the 50's west of the Dallas Metroplex but a bit warm in the 70s east of the Dallas Metroplex ergo they coined the words "Crazy Tuesday" to describe today's weather. Our spiritual walk can be a little "schizo" like that every now and then, The Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention anything about prayer and God. It was during this time that the jewish people were granted permission to rebuild the temple but sadly only about 60,000 of them chose to return. The rest were content to stay in the land of their captivity of Babylon and Persia. These people who chose to remain in the land of captivity refused to obey God's commandments and they simply were not seeing God's presence in their lives and yet God's presence was certainly there. His hand of intervention can be seen in the lives of these people throughout the Book Of Esther in spite of the fact that there was no mention of His name. In our very busy schedule it is not surprising that oftentimes we advertently or inadvertently take God out of the picture in our daily living hence our spiritual walk is a bit "schizo" like that. It happened to me last week, my prayer life was inconsistent to say the least around that time but when there was an incident far beyond my family's control I remembered Him and called on His name and within mili seconds before the dirt hit the road He responded in the most spectacular way. It's like finding the right wave if you are a surfer ... they have a term for this ... "Stoked".

THE BOOK OF ESTHER

Dodge It Or Let God Deal With It

Suicide is an act of intentionally terminating one's own life. Suicide occurs for a number of reason such as depression, substance abuse, shame , AVOIDING PAIN, financial difficulties or other undesirable situations.

A bunch of thieves broke into my Pastor's house a week ago. I saw him a few days after the incident. He looked very calm and subdued but i could sense that he was hurting deep within. I spoke to him and asked him how he was, of course he did not pretend that everything was honkey-dorey at that time but I could sense an element of hope in his voice which reminded me of what David said in the book of Psalms 43:5 "Why so cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me. HOPE IN GOD; For I shall praise him, The help of my countenance and my God." I encouraged my Pastor and told him that God will restore him and sublimate this rather unfortunate event in his life. He preached last Sunday on the book of Psalm 43 and he delivered God's message with much intensity. After the service I approached him and told him part of the reason God allowed this incident to happen to you is for you to experience it so that it becomes real in your preaching and a testemonial of how God takes care of his kids in times of trials.

The reason I am depressed and cast down is that I've lost sight of God. He has been removed from the equation. I am trying to figure out a solution apart from Him. The answer is to put God back in the equation. Then it doesn't become impossible anymore.

Chuck Smith
Senior Pastor
Calvary Chapel
His commentary on Psalm 43:5

PSALM 43