Category Archives: The Good News of Jesus

Brute Force Was Too Weak

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Emily was dying of leukemia. Everything the doctors tried hadn’t stopped the disease.  Traditional treatments for cancer bombard the body with poison and radiation, but when those things didn’t work, a new, experimental treatment was tried on Emily.  Instead of trying to pound the disease into submission with brute force, they took tiny immune system cells from her body and modified their DNA.  When these tiny cells were put back into her body, they began to kill the cancerous cells.  Today, 3 years later, Emily is a normal, healthy fifth grader.  I’ve included a link to this really cool story below.

But it got me thinking: When God looked down and saw the Earth, overrun by the deadly cancer of sin, heading inevitably toward death and destruction, He did not bombard it with raw power.  He did not flood it with poison, radiation, or even flood waters, as He had unsuccessfully done in early days.  Instead, He sent a tiny, helpless baby, Who came with a new DNA: eternal life.  His therapy for the curse set loose on this planet seemed too small, too powerless to ever prevail over such a terrible disease.  And yet, His cure is spreading, one person at a time, as each one believes and is reborn.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.  (John 5:24)

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.  (Joy to the World)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here is the link:  http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/gene-editing-huge-leap-forward-fight-against-cancer-n484716

The Champ

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The family that won the title for the most Christmas lights in 2014 hung 601,736 lights. However, their record was surpassed by God, Who lit only one light.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.  –  ( Isaiah 9:2)

How could one light beat out more than 600,000? God’s light spread and multiplied. What sort of light could do that? John said it like this:

In him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4 My parenthetical note)

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  –  ( John 1:9)

Now, if the light that shone in the darkness is the life that was in Jesus, how did it become “the light of men?”

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. –  ( John 1:11-13)

Life begins with birth. Since God’s light is life, it is multiplied through the process of birth in those who receive it. No mere physical birth, it is nothing less than the birth in a human being of God’s eternal life. As He said it would, this light has spread around the world. 601,736 lights? Not even close…

Really Good News

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The town of Raqqa, Syria, used to be a pretty nice place to live.  That is, before ISIS marched in and took over.  Now everyone is forced to live under their draconian laws.  No one is allowed to leave.  A squad of goons patrols the town, looking for people to arrest.  Commonly, those arrested, even for minor offenses, are publicly tortured, mutilated, beheaded or crucified.  In other words, life in Raqqa is not much different from life in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.  Particularly with the public floggings and crucifixions.

Consider that, and read this:

Luke 2:10 — 11 
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Good news?  Really?  Suppose you  lived in Raqqa, trapped and terrified, and an angel came and said, “Good news! A savior has come!”  But then he tells you the savior is an infant, so you are going to have to be patient…   Would that really seem like good news?  Wouldn’t you rather have a savior who was special forces and flew a helicopter? 

Most people felt the same way back in first century Bethlehem.  They didn’t realize their captivity was not primarily to the Romans but to their own self-destructive, sinful urges. As awful as it was to be under the thumb of cruel, pagan conquerors, far worse was the threat of eternal damnation.  Jesus was born as a baby and lived a normal and yet sinless life in order to be qualified to set them (and us) free from captivity to sin.

Joseph received this angelic message in a dream:

Matthew 1:21
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

I am certain there are people in Raqqa today who are discovering this Savior, just as some did in Bethlehem.  His salvation is just as powerful today as it was then, bringing peace and freedom despite dark and desperate circumstances.  Jesus gives eternal life that not even ISIS can destroy.  And that really is “good news for all the people.”

We’ll Leave the Light On

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Once again, I watched “Close Encounters,” one of the best movies ever made.  Do you remember the scene, early in the movie, in which the people who had seen or sensed the presence of the aliens gathered on the hillside, lighting lights to welcome them?  Remember how they watched and waited, eagerly anticipating their coming? 

It would be nice if Christmas lights were lit with that same attitude, watching and waiting, eagerly anticipating the coming of our Lord.  Perhaps they once were, back before Christmas became flattened and homogenized into “Happy Holidays.”  But you and I can light welcoming lights year round, not on our gutters and bushes but in our attitudes and actions.  Watching and waiting, as many once did for His birth.

David said it like this:

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;  my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.  O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love,and with him is plentiful redemption.  And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.(Psalm 130:5-7)

Going from How? to Wow!

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“Greatly troubled” probably doesn’t even come close to describing Mary’s reaction when Gabriel popped out of the closet.  And then he said, “Don’t be scared, I just came to tell you God wants you to have His Baby.  If Mary was hyperventilating before, I’m guessing she notched it up a bit, thinking, “What?  God wants His Son to come and live in me???”  Imagine.

As preposterous a request as that was, God sends a similar one to you.  He wants His Son to be born in you and live in your soul forever.  On one level, that is more of a privileged invitation than a mere request.  But it is not unusual, when people hear that amazing invitation for the first time to respond as Mary did.  First, “greatly troubled” (read: frightened down deep). 

But then, confused.  Mary said, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” ( Luke 1:34b)  She knew she was unqualified, in a sense, not good enough to have a baby.  Our question is similar: “Me?  God wants Jesus to live in me???  Doesn’t He know how I have been living, what I have been thinking?  There’s no way I could be qualified!  How could that possibly happen?”

The answer is the same as Gabriel gave Mary:

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.   – (Luke 1:35b)

And who gets to have that new birth?  Everyone who, like Mary, believes and says, “Let it be done to me according to your word.”  –  (Luke 1:38b)

Unlikely but Certain

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Shepherds near here live in rustic, tiny wagons with rounded tops.  Pretty shabby accomodations but then shepherds are on the bottom of the food chain; they don’t command per diem expense accounts in fancy hotels.  Same thing was true in biblical days: shepherds were considered to be a pretty low and sleazy lot. 

Kings, on the other hand, jet around the world in private, posh comfort and command the highest respect and fanciest privileges.  As they have for thousands of years.  (Ok, they didn’t have Lear Jets back in the Bible days, but you get the idea…)

These days, the nations surrounding Israel want to wipe her off the map and take her land for themselves.  As was also the case a few hundred years before Christ.  And, just as they were about to conquer Israel, God made this astonishing promise:

“Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.  (Micah 5:1-5a)

Quick paraphrase.  God said, You, Israel, are about to get wiped out by your pagan neighbors.  But after you have been destroyed and things look hopeless, I will send you a King Who will be a Shepherd to His people.  His mother will give birth to Him in Bethlehem, the least likely of places.  But eventually, His reign will be accomplished by My unlimited power.  He will incorporate people from every nation into His flock and His reign will be supreme even to the ends of the earth.  He will bring peace because He will be peace. This may seem unlikely, but it is going to happen, because I planned and ordained His coming from ancient days past.

His birth was extremely unlikely.  But it happened, just as God said it would.

His dual role as Shepherd/King seemed like a ridiculous oxymoron.  And yet He affirmed both.

Perhaps least likely of all, that anyone one man could reign supreme to the ends of the earth and bring peace.  But His reign is already being established, growing and spreading around the globe.   Unlikely, but certain. 

The Day Will Come

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My brother and I would blast out the bedroom door, take a quick left and a right, and then tumble down the stairs, barely touching them.  The long wait was over; Christmas morning had finally come!  How well I can remember the excruciating wait for Christmas.  The days dragged by.  It seemed Christmas would never arrive. And when it did, we couldn’t get out of bed and downstairs fast enough. 

These days I feel a similar sense of anticipation, not for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but to get the party started celebrating His second coming. 
There were 400 years of darkness and confusion for God’s people, leading up to the birth of our Savior.  How they yearned for God to fulfill His promise. 
True, when He came, not everyone could see Jesus for Who He was.  But when they did (and when they still do!) their darkness was overcome by His great light, their despair was swallowed up by deep joy.

As we wait for Jesus’ return, once again there is darkness and confusion running loose on the planet.  I don’t need to list the examples; you watch the news, too.  Once again, we yearn for Christ to come.  It seems as though the day will never arrive.  But God is faithful and that day will surely come. 

For some, His coming will bring complete destruction as He sweeps away the wickedness and darkness. 

“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.”  (Malachi 4:1-2)

Just like my brother and me on Christmas morning…

Getting Through

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How freaked out would you be if God sent you a messenger to tell you, “I heard you when you prayed about…. (fill in the blank with some private prayer)?  I was thinking about that when I read about the angel telling Zechariah,

…“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ( Luke 1:13b)

Would you pray any differently if you were sure God was listening?  When you send an email you might question if it will be received and read.  But when you pick up the phone and actually speak to someone you can be more sure they are hearing what you say.  Better yet with Skype when you can tell they are actually paying attention.  But how can you know God is listening?

If we want to be heard by God, Jesus taught us to pray privately, simply and sincerely.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.  –  ( Mat 6:6-7)

He also taught His disciples to pray directly to God because their prayers would get though without any intercession on His part.  He said:

“In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.  (John 16:26-27)

Jesus assured us of a direct line to the Father Who loves us.  Next time you pause to pray, remember:  “your prayers have been heard!”

To Lie Down in Peace

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Next year I’m going to be selling a line of Black Friday helmets and protective gear, along with a self-test concussion assessment. Good idea? I think so and I hope your BF bruises are beginning to heal. Ah, yes: each year our anticipation of Christmas gets more and more exciting!

Before the birth of Christ, there was also great anticipation of His coming but for slightly different reasons. One of them was they knew this promise from God, written by the prophet, Ezekiel:

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. – (Ezekiel 34:15-16)

Perhaps you can relate to the sheep. When sheep lie down, it is because they are at peace – no threats, real or imagined to stir them up. No pacing about with anxious bleating. How would you like to find peace like that this Christmas? Maybe you understand what it feels like to be lost. Or to have strayed and not know how to find your way back. Perhaps you’ve been injured in life, or feel weak or oppressed. The promise of God was to be a shepherd for His people. He said “I myself will make them lie down…” No wonder there was such a yearning for His coming, such anticipation for the One Whose Name would be “God with Us.”

Regardless of how you spent Black Friday and Cyber Monday, my prayer is that this season you will find the One Who called Himself the “Good Shepherd,” the One in Whom we can truly lie down in peace.

And if you want to get in on the helmet thing, let me know…

The Flip Side

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Norman Rockwell never painted a Thanksgiving like the one I had this year.  I spent the day in bed with a bad case of bronchitis, missing my wife, who died six months ago.  I also mostly missed my shots to the wastebasket and scattered snotty tissues on the floor.  But, Ironically, during this less than perfect Thanksgiving day, I had a new insight about the importance of being thankful.

It was from the flip side of this familiar verse:

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  (Romans 1:21)

I have always read that verse as an explanation for how people become twisted and darkened in their thinking.  But if failing to honor and give thanks to God results in a darkened heart and mind, the converse, the flip side, must also be true.  In circumstances that seem crummy and depressing, there is a way to brighten our outlook, a way to wash the mud off our spiritual windshield.  Spend some time and mental energy in those circumstances reflecting on how amazing and holy God is, how perfect, loving, patient, gracious, all-knowing, all-powerful and eternal.  And then in those same circumstances, focus on what He has done and given for which you are thankful.

I will be honest: it took some effort to overcome feeling sorry for myself.  And when I began to get the hang of it, I was not magically transported into a Norman Rockwell version of Thanksgiving.  No satisfying blobs of turkey stuffing, drenched in gravy.  No candlelit, happy faces sharing a toast.  But something better, more long lasting happened.  My thinking became clear and my heart enlightened.  My spirits were lifted and filled with joy.  And I watched some guilt-free football.

When you are struggling, remember the flip side.  If failing to honor God and give Him thanks leads to a futile, darkened heart and mind, the reverse is also true.  It was good to discover and practice that lesson for. 

Now if I can work on my Kleenex bank shot…