alone
stop holding me back. stop keeping me from living.
never will things seem right to me when you're around.
without you things may not be perfect, but it would all be better somehow.
i wait for you to leave. or for me to know how to leave you.
alone.
without you.
only my thoughts and dreams now.
no limitations. only possibilities... and ways to act on them. every last one of them.
finally free.
Come and Worship!
A while ago I wrote an article expecting a different outcome than what happened. All the same, I still wrote an article that I'm proud of and want to share. Sure - it's long, but Merry Christmas to you whether you read it or not! ;)
Come and Worship!
I've always loved Christmastime and growing up I simply adored Winter. A time when music abounded, with vacations from school and everything beautifully decorated, often amidst crisp, sparkling snow. It was like a dream come true! Christmas: the celebration of Jesus coming to earth, a day spent with family, food, and presents. Yep – I've always loved Christmastime.
All through school I never had any issues with my non-Christian friends and their families celebrating Christmas. I knew they weren't doing it to worship or honour God, but I usually found a real respect from them regarding my choice to do so. Back then I never would have imagined a time where I couldn't share my joy with the world, where some people would feel the need to remove things that were once part of their own tradition. Over the years I have found it so easy to become distracted by this kind of shift. I don't appreciate the things that aim to take away from the holiness of the season. But, perhaps it isn't too far off historically. We see that even around the time of Jesus' birth, while the first instinct of many from shepherds to Wise Men was to come and worship, Herod the king was out to seek and destroy. Today secularism, commercialism, political correctness, "tolerance", and occasionally our own additions (or is that editions?) to the story all work to erode Christ from our Christian festival. Society just carries on in Herod's footsteps, only we use the guises of sophistication and progress as justification. It's scary to recognise how much erosion has occurred in my own lifetime. I wish I had answers on how to fix it all. All I can suggest is that in the midst of the assault we make like the shepherds and Wise Men and simply come and worship.
Even for Christians the temptation to push worship aside at Christmastime is very real. No, we may not be on the bandwagon for renaming seasonal symbols or serenading without using actual carols. But watch out! Many Salvationists work like mad around Christmastime – so busy, so tired, often so distracted. It is always a danger for our Army of servants to find our focus slipping from the One we serve.
One of my favourite Christmas happenings is when December 25th falls on a Sunday, as it does this year. I just
love that! Hurrah for 2005! Going to church on Christmas morning... I think this desire is hardwired into me or something. Oh yes, I enjoy the annual Christmas Eve services and yet somehow I long to worship joyously all together on Christmas Day. I know we should be worshipping all the way along, but I love the idea of all that worship rising to a great Christmas morning climax. And besides, if Christmas is also a day for families, I like worshipping with my corps family too. It's a few hours well spent in my books.
Worship is what distinguishes Christmas as more than just another birthday celebration or winter festival. There is so much symbolism in the many traditions, but symbols are only as meaningful as we allow them to be. (Did I mention secularism, commercialism, political correctness, and the like?) The good news is that what we do with our hearts and minds is up to us. Sure, we can let the distractions divert our attention from "the Reason for the season." We can get miffed or depressed by what we see happening, but forget to do anything about it. We can get so wrapped up in our work that we forget to encourage somebody who has a hard time facing the holidays. We can wear ourselves out entirely through our service that we forget why we serve or to balance it out with worship. Or simply forget to make our service an act of worship. But instead, let's be sure to ask God to surprise us this year! To help us to praise Him, to worship Him, to serve Him with full hearts, to reveal things to us. If we don't invite Him to the party, really what's the point?
Every year in December our senior band participates in a community carol sing hosted at an Anglican church downtown. This is easily my favourite corps band event – good music, real carols, the pipe organ, all in a gorgeous hall with acoustics to match. Now, carol sings entail a lot of playing with multiple verses. It's a cornet player's marathon of stamina and endurance. Actually, you can get smart and just take frequent breaks – coordinated with the rest of "the bench" of course! I love to sing, so wherever possible I break during the songs I want to sing. A few years ago this carol sing went from being a favourite event to a transforming one. I took one of my singing breaks during "What Child is This?" I leaned back, gazing at a beautiful stained glass window, and singing:
This, this is Christ the King... When suddenly I realised I was sitting there face to face with my Jesus on the cross. No longer the babe in the manger, but the Man who took my sin upon His undeserving shoulders.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?There, I surveyed the wondrous cross at Christmastime, yet still unable to fully take in how awesome the Gift from the Father to us really is. Talk about the Gift that keeps on giving!
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. It's overwhelming but the Love of God is beyond extravagant so it's to be expected that as humans we can't possibly take it all in. We can get caught up in or even caught off guard by amazement and worship of such a King. Let's aim for that this Christmas.
May moments of true worship fill your Christmas season this year, including at unexpected times and places. May you celebrate with awe the birth, the Gift, of Jesus.
Born that man no more may die. That includes you, me, your neighbour, your enemy, our leaders, politicians, stockbrokers, variety store clerks, professors, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, new agers, and every other belief system fathomable or unfathomable. Simply put – that's everybody!
Yes! What
we do at Christmastime matters, so live your faith in Jesus unashamed. But live that Good News daily, not just for a month starting at the end of November. We were called out to live exemplary lives, lives of love, in the Name of Jesus Christ. If we believe what we're celebrating – the birth of the Saviour of the whole world – we'll work to live it out all year around. And we can start right now. While others may opt for a Christ-less Christmas, we can infuse the life and light of Jesus into all we do. And the best way to make sure that happens?
Come and worship!
The best Christmases are with Christ
Some folk (actually, most folk is more accurate) don't like to make Christmas and Easter be too tightly linked. But I can do nothing else.
Some don't want to see prophecies fulfilled that foreshadow death, or to think specifically about a crucifixion. Or even a resurrection. But I tell you, Christmas without those things is no Christmas at all.
The focus is on the birth of a Saviour... and it is a joyous and celebratory time with amazement at the way God chose to send His Son to us, and at all the wonders of the first Christmas. It's awesome! But a birth of a Saviour means saving is needed. His mission was not solely to be immaculately conceived, to be born and to teach. But to die, to conquer death, and to live again - not just so He would live again, but so that WE could choose life.
Don't get me wrong, I love all the Christmas stuff (well, until it goes over the top with the crass commercialism) but I don't see it as the destination for the holiday. Not even family gatherings alone serve as the destination. Come and worship... that's the basis. Yes, come worship the King who died for you!
Come and meet Him for yourself this year - heart to heart... ask Him directly, "hey, what's this all about? did you really die for me?" and expect to be lead into a new world of discovery and a real HOPE. Have your best Christmas ever!
something better
because the dream isn't over
because i know the hopes are real
because it seems like a good idea
there is something better
take a moment to realise
or to remember there is more
or to learn that it ain't over yet
there is something better
talking to the wall
fishing with the rocks
running with the wind
there is something better
starting to get confused?
not quite understanding?
wanting something else?
no worries
there is something better!
