Live courageously from your heart!
The new year has come and it feels like only yesterday that I was writing my 2013 year in review. Wow, where has the year gone? Since my last year in review a lot has happened on Heartstone Journey and in my own life. There is so much I could share, but here are some highlights:
Can you imagine what it would have been like if Jesus had not come?
A number of years ago a remarkable Christmas card was published by the title, “If Christ Had Not Come.” It was based on these words, “If I had not come….” (John 15:22). The card pictured a minister falling asleep in his study on Christmas morning and then dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come.
In his dream, he saw himself walking through his house, but as he looked, he saw no Christmas decorations, no Christmas tree, no wreaths, no lights, no crèche, no Christmas cards, and no Christ to comfort and gladden hearts or to save us. He then walked onto the street outside, but there was no church with its spire pointing toward heaven. And when he came back and sat down in his library, he realized that every book about our Savior had disappeared. There were no carols or Christian music on the radio and no choirs or Christmas concerts on television.
The minister dreamed that the doorbell rang and that a messenger asked him to visit a friend’s poor, dying mother. He reached her home, and as his friend sat and wept, he said, “I have something here that will comfort you.” He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, but it ended with Malachi. There was no Christmas story, no angelic chorus, no shepherds or Wise Men, no Sermon on the Mount, no parables, no miracles, no “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” There was no gospel, no light of the world, no “God so loved the world”, no Lord’s Prayer, and no promise of hope and salvation, and all he could do was bow his head and weep with his friend and his mother in bitter despair.
Two days later he stood beside her coffin and conducted her funeral service, but there was no message of comfort, no words of a glorious resurrection, and no thought of a mansion awaiting her in heaven. There was only “dust to dust, and ashes to ashes,” and one long, eternal farewell. Finally he realized that Christ had not come, and burst into tears, weeping bitterly in his sorrowful dream. There would be no Easter, and no hope of the kingdom of heaven and an age to come.
Do you think you think you could contain Niagara Falls in a teacup?
Is there anyone in our midst who pretends to understand the awesome love in the heart of the Abba of Jesus that inspired, motivated and brought about Christmas? The shipwrecked at the stable kneel in the presence of mystery.
God entered into our world not with the crushing impact of unbearable glory, but in the way of weakness, vulnerability and need. On a wintry night in an obscure cave, the infant Jesus was a humble, naked, helpless God who allowed us to get close to him.
We all know how difficult it is to receive anything from someone who has all the answers, who is completely cool, utterly unafraid, needing nothing and in control of every situation. We feel unnecessary, unrelated to this paragon. So God comes as a newborn baby, giving us a chance to love him, making us feel that we have something to give him.
The world does not understand vulnerability. Neediness is rejected as incompetence and compassion is dismissed as unprofitable…The spirituality of Bethlehem is simply incomprehensible to the advertising industry. The opening notes of Beethoven’s Symphony are being used to sell us pain reliever, and the prayer of St. Francis is being used to sell us hair conditioner.
The Bethlehem mystery will ever be a scandal to aspiring disciples who seek a triumphant Savior and a prosperity Gospel. The infant Jesus was born in unimpressive circumstances, no one can exactly say where. His parents were of no social significance whatsoever, and his chosen welcoming committee was all turkeys, losers and dirt-poor shepherds. But in this weakness and poverty the shipwrecked at the stable would come to know the love of God.
![#010: Worry Free Living [Podcast]](https://heartstonejourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/worry-free-living.jpg)
Had another great conversation on Purposeful Pathways Radio with Caroline Gavin; Christian business coach, speaker, author and radio host. Join our conversation as we talk about how to start living a more worry free life.
Do you get a sense that most people (including you) are worried about something these days?
If you turn on the TV or do any surfing on the Internet you will run into a story surrounding the events in Ferguson Missouri. The nation watched as many in the town of Ferguson reacted with outrage and disappointment, when the prosecutor announced that officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
I am not weighing in on the justice or injustice of the events surrounding Ferguson, I am writing about a deeper issue of humanity.
Honestly, I never understood how the color of someones skin defines that person. Never understood the anger of the Black Panthers in one direction and the anger of the KKK in the other. While the modern race problem has economic, political, and social implications I believe its primarily a moral and spiritual problem.
Parsing through all the news narratives and ambient conversations on social media, I wanted to highlight the words New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson shared in the national conversation on race, racism and policing in America.
In a thoughtful commentary that was liked on his Facebook page more than 800,000 times and shared more than 450,000 times as of November 30th, Watson explained that he chose to write down his thoughts on the Ferguson decision after news broke Monday night.
Here are those thoughts and more…
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