My favorite Christmas hymn is “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”.  Written by Charles Wesley, and in spite of the fact that nowhere does it say the angels sang, it is chocked full of Biblical language and Christian theology.

Wesley’s second verse tells us about the coming of the Redeemer.  Paul in Philippians tells us He was equal with Father in heaven, and in Galatians relates that he came at the perfect time to do His saving work.

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the Virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell;
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

He is very God and very man, born of a virgin, a supernatural conception to become “God with us”. (Believe it or not, I found one source that changed virgin’s womb to favored one.)

Verse Three:

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth

Charles finishes with one of the most succinct representations of the gospel ever penned by man.  The power of the truth of man’s depravity and weakness before death, the healing and life-giving power of the Savior, and the means of man’s redemption, a new birth, is multiplied by the simple and short words of Wesley, till they hammer within us and explode with grateful rejoicing.

Of all times of the year, Christmas ought to be the time we are most sensitive to the Gospel.  Jesus did not come to this earth to give us health, happiness, a fatter wallet, or a better marriage.  He came to give us life, to take away our sin; and He did so by dying on our behalf.  We come to Him, not to claim our life, but in repudiation of it so that we might have His.

The woes of this broken world will never know respite but by the change in the hearts of men as they come to Him.  Seeing this simple lowly birth as the key to all the problems and hurts of man, the angels shouted, “Glory to God in the highest…”

Imaginary friends and practical atheists:

It is not uncommon for children to develop imaginary friends.  These friends allow for fun and comforting companionship in times of stress or loneliness.  Usually these friends disappear harmlessly as the child grows, matures and develops other relationships or resources for coping.  Certainly an adult living with an invented relationship would be a cause for concern.

Every relationship must have guidelines.  We need to know what the other thinks, needs and wants so that we can order our behavior to please them and cause the relationship to grow.  We cannot even have an adversarial relationship without knowing what is important to the other person or entity.  We usually rely on communication of some sort.  Whispered words from a lover, or a written standard from an employer, tell us what is expected from us and provide the framework for relationship.

Imaginary relationships allow us to give to ourselves only positive feedback.  We never fail to please or disappoint.  Our fantasy friends are always happy with us and what we do is always pleasing to them, because they are really us.

Our culture has given rise to the practical atheist.  These folks are not atheists by profession; in fact, they may well sit next to us in church.  These folks are atheists because they live as if there were no God, or worse, create a god who is pleased with them and the way they live.

Of course, to do this you must ignore the Bible and its guidelines for relationship or find some way to explain it into irrelevance.  The imaginary god/friend you create must reflect you, not a set of standards apart from and above human experience.  This pretend relationship cannot exist if the standards are objective and based on eternal truth and not the temporary requirements of self.

Folks, fruit tells a lot.  We can talk of God and pray and go through all sorts of relational activity; but if the entity we think we are in relationship with is make-believe, there is no relationship.

This past week I watched practical atheists put their theology of an imaginary god into practice.  They voted against the concept of “God-given potential…”.  When the offensive words were subsequently restored to their document, they booed!  These same folks had earlier decided that unborn children were tissue, an unwanted growth like a tumor.  They also decided that traditional marriage between a man and a woman was narrow, restrictive and discriminatory.

More than a concern, it is tragedy when adults have imaginary friends!

Love and Sex are not the same.

That may seem obvious to most, but there is an incessant bludgeoning of simple truth that seeks to redefine the obvious and make those who stand upon ancient and tested reality feel guilty for doing so.  Real Christians need to be “as wise as serpents….”

For multiple generations, in western biblical-based society, marriage has stood as a commitment between a man and a woman.  That commitment sanctified sexual intimacy and provided the framework for conceiving and raising children.  Everything else was seen as aberrant, and those who tossed aside the norm were the exception that proved the accepted rule.  Now concerted efforts, well funded and framed by those skilled in cultural manipulation, are aimed at redefining marriage by confusing love and sex.  If they succeed, it will be to the detriment of all living and loving beings.

Because of space we will go quickly. First, it is possible for a man and woman to love and never engage in sexual intimacy.  This self-restraint and sacrifice, for whatever reason, and because it is not the norm, may add a note of nobility to their relationship that otherwise would never be there.  Of course, it is possible for a man and woman to engage in sex where no love exists. Marriage as we have understood it can be harmed or enhanced by either of these situations, but it is not defined by them.

Brothers and sisters can love one another without sexual gratification.  In fact, it is considered taboo in our society.  Adults can love children without sexual contact, which as you must know is so culturally repugnant it is illegal.  This is as it should be.  Men can love men and women love women as David’s soul was knit to Jonathon’s, not as a preamble to the expression of sexual urges, but because the heart of the other is lovely and high and wonderful.  Love and sex are not the same.

Marriage has always been about sex.  When some cheerleader for social upheaval purports that people should be free to love whom they please, they are talking about sex, not love.  They are talking not about the high and holy intertwining of hearts but about unnatural practices.  This attempt to redefine marriage is ruinous to our understanding of love, that Godly affection that causes one to sacrifice their desires, even life, for the other.

Because love and sex are not the same, I can love my dog and not be married to him.

“These are times that try men’s souls.” Famous words from Thomas Paine that described the wrenching days of our fight for independence from Great Britain.  We all have personal trials and times when our soul is troubled and vexed.  Those are the times we search our souls and seek God for His perfect will and if we are honest, His grace allows us to find Him and surrender to Him.

The believers of Western Christianity are going through such a time now, or at least should be.  Down through the ages of Church history, trials and temptations have arisen from the culture that pressure believers to conform and compromise.  Our day is no different in that respect; though the temptations are certainly different, the temptations from our particular culture are present.  There is a difference, though; the character and message of much of Christianity has changed.

In the past there has always been a strong voice from the pulpits of our land that believers were to be different, that they were to be in but not a part of this self-worshipping world.  Believers were told the Bible taught them to be separate, to come out from among the world in thinking, attitude, and deed.

The oldest deception known to man is thinking that everything revolves around us.  The complex layers of human self-awareness and self-destruction we deal with today have all arisen from believing a lie about God and acting on our own self-interests in violation of His will.  (Genesis 3 has the whole story.)

Today it seems that much of the church has joined the parade of those who worship self.  Many believers have accepted a modern theology that is a hodgepodge of psychology and self-expression that has at it roots the idea that God does what He does for us because of us.  The ancient Biblical concept that God is autonomous and independent, that He acts from His own will and motive, that He needs nothing or no one, and that anything good we receive from His hand is due to His grace alone has been replaced with a gospel that teaches us that God is there for us.  The pulpits, airwaves, bandwidth and bookstores are filled with messages on how to have a better life, feel better about yourself, gain financial peace, make your spouse and children love you, and the list goes on.

The idea that God loves us should be source of wonder and amazement that makes us humble and selfless.  The great trial of these days may be the temptation to worship self.

I loved to watch “The American Sportsman” when I was a kid.  Curt Gowdy and Grits Gresham would go to exotic (to me) places to hunt and fish.  I always dreamed of going to some of those places and doing some of those things, but in the back of my mind I figured they were probably out of my reach.

We also went once or twice to the circus.  I saw that you could keep a lion or tiger at bay with a whip and chair and wondered why the lion hadn’t figured out that he could charge past the whip and through the chair and have a piece (literally) of his tormentor.  I also saw trapeze artists and figured that what they were doing must have been fun because they were always smiling.  It looked scary to me, though.  When I asked, my parents told me how dangerous it was and how they practiced all the time and how much work it was.  I decided I’d stick to my backyard swing.

I’m older now and have a little bit better grasp of vicarious satisfaction and the entertainment industry.  I still like to watch some of that stuff, and I sometimes still root for the lion.  I’m no longer interested in swinging from a wire.

Over the years some of us Christians have come to think of our relationship with the Lord like I viewed the circus and Grits.  We think that all that spiritual stuff is interesting to watch but it is beyond our ability, so we get our satisfaction from watching others.  We have even gone so far as to hire folks to sing, visit, teach, and do other feats of dangerous spirituality that we have convinced ourselves are beyond our capacity.  To add to this misconception, we even think we are doing something commendable by paying others to do what the Lord requires of us.

There is a biblical place for pastors, evangelists, and the rest of that list in Ephesians 4.  We are not all supposed to do what they do. However, read it carefully; they are supposed to be helping us do what we are called to do, not doing it for us.

Christianity is not entertainment or a spectator sport.  Grab you chair and whip and get to it.  This time I’ll root for you!

Bible Stories are funny!  I would have loved to have been there to watch as they actually happened.

I think the story of Zacchaeus is humorous, a dignified man hanging onto a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus.  How about Jonah being vomited out of a large fish?  (It doesn’t say whale in the Bible.)  That would have been a great time to be hanging around the beach.  What is proper first aid to a vomit victim?  The one I really enjoy is Balaam’s talking donkey.  Not only does the donkey talk, his argument and logic were better than Balaam’s.  That story is not only funny, but it provides hope to all of us who purport to speak on God’s behalf.  Even a donkey can be used!

Yet Bible stories are more than just stories.  I’m afraid that years of Sunday School lessons have inoculated us from the reality that these were real people.  They had hopes and dreams, fears and loved ones.  These are not fairy tales but real accounts of God working in people’s lives and how they responded to Him.

The account of Joseph is one of the more compelling in scripture.  It is a rags-to-riches, root for the underdog, the good guy wins in the end epic.  There is high drama, danger, sex, revenge, violence and most of the other stuff we see on our TV screens each evening.  Joseph has long been a hero because he stayed faithful to God in spite of all he went through.  He is exalted in the end and in some ways is a type of Jesus the Messiah.  Yet Joseph was clueless about what God was doing.

Joseph was faithful not so he could be number two in Egypt.  He knew nothing of that.  He was faithful because that is what God required and expected.  Because he was faithful, God could bless him and promote him.

It is easy to miss the point for our lives.  God wants us to be faithful.  You won’t rule Egypt, probably not even your neighborhood organization, but you will be exalted in God’s eyes.  As in Joseph’s story, there will be a time for each of us when everything is made known.

I bet Joseph’s brothers’ eyes bulged when they realized who he was.  They probably strained to see, could it be him.  They were happy, sad, afraid and relieved all at the same time.  What they meant for harm, God used for good.

I would have loved to have seen that!

I’ve stopped going to church.  I’ve mulled over the decision for years and tried to contemplate all the ramifications and nuances of my choice.  Critical mass was reached and there is no turning back.  I’m done!

Don’t misunderstand; I’m still meeting with believers on Sunday and other days, but it’s not church and I won’t call it that.  It might be a gathering, a meeting, a fellowship, a swarm or a gaggle, but it is not church.

I’m the church; so is every follower of Jesus.  The old Greek word we translate “church” took on a new meaning when Paul got done writing about the followers of Jesus.  He elevated it to describe all those who lived in union with the Son of God through the agency of the Holy Spirit.  When he was done, its old meaning of political and  community group activity was transformed.  It now described the Lord’s Body, His Bride, those who were His and shared His life and death.

Words have meanings; and without a common understanding, we cannot communicate.  Words can also change meaning over time.  I just used the example of how the New Testament changed the old Greek word “ecclesia”.  Some have even purposefully redefined words in order to bring about social change.  I’m reminded of that each Christmas when I sing about donning gay apparel.

Over the years the meaning of the word “church” has morphed into something not supported by scripture.  I am a part of His church 24/7, at home, at work, at play and even meeting with other believers.  God doesn’t live in a building, and I don’t need an appointment to meet with Him.  We, God and I, live together.  He is as close as my skin and breath; and beyond that, we will be together when skin and breath are gone.

Protestant Christianity has become so enamored with numbers, crowds and programs that more energy is given to meetings than to everyday living.  The morphing of the word can and does lead people to believe that attending a meeting is the same as a relationship with Jesus.  The Bible teaches us that the Lord lives within, that our hearts are His dwelling place, that our bodies are His temple.

Meetings are still important, and we are warned against abandoning gathering with other believers.  However, what goes on when we meet and what we think about that meeting needs to be brought under the authority of scripture.

Christianity is not a meeting!

Partial Thinks the Sequel:

Here are some more of those things I think about but just can’t get final enough to write a book about.  You do think about things, don’t you, and ask questions like “Why?” and “Why not?”  Well, I hope so!

Counting the cost.  Jesus told a couple parables about folks who needed to figure out if they could finish before they started.  Good advice that is often overlooked today because we think someone will bail us out.  We even think God will rescue us from our ill-conceived, erroneous and presumptive actions.  When it comes to the essentials of His message, I don’t think so!  When He told the parables, he was talking about following Him and being willing to give up everything to do so.  If we are not willing to pay the price, we cannot follow.  This seems pretty simple to me, yet some want to add all sorts of contingencies to the contract.  Sorry, but that is not allowed.  He is God; they are His rules; no one can change them.  Whatever you are clinging to, turn it loose … He is worth it!

Little words can make big confusion!  The church is people — the Body of Christ. We are animated by His Spirit, and we have life.  We are a living organism, and He is the Head and gives direction to the individual members.  We are organized, yet we are not an organization.  His Church is a living thing.

How then do we go to church?  The gathering does not make us; we make it by our presence.  That is a huge difference, and in that difference is the power of grace.  Understand that difference and you are free from the fantastic idea that you can by your actions make yourself acceptable to God.  Fail to understand and you are locked into a religion and may well miss the basic meaning of the Gospel.

Meeting-centered stuff.  Where in the Bible does it say that unbelievers are to go to a meeting of believers (don’t say church) to begin a relationship with God through Jesus?  Rather, aren’t believers of every shape and age to be telling others how to have that relationship all throughout the week?  In the New Testament, the meetings were for believers to study God’s Word, pray together, and share in a covenant meal.  Usually it is easier to be what we should be when we quit trying to be what we are not.