Christmas: Celebrating Advent

Ever since I was a little girl, Christmastime has been tied to Advent.  Advent means "coming" and it involves traditions that point to the night we celebrate God's coming in flesh to earth.  Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas.  On each Sunday, a new candle is lit.  Each candle has a special meaning.  Then on Christmas Eve, a large white candle is lit called the "Christ Candle."  For me as a child (and an adult), Advent does two things.  First, it increases the anticipation of Christmas.  As a child, each candle lit meant Christmas was drawing closer and I grew more and more excited.  Second, it focuses me on what Christmas is about: Jesus Christ.  As a child, yes, I did get excited about presents and snow men and reindeer.  But Advent brought me back to what was truly important: the birth of my Savior.  Through Advent, I learned what Christmas was all about, who Jesus was and why he came.  As an adult, I still cherish Advent.  I think now even more so, I long for my Savior, for the celebration of his glorious coming.

I'd like to explain how you can celebrate Advent, too.  The first thing you'll need are the candles.  There are three purple taper candles, one pink taper candle and one large white candle, and, of course, holders.  (Christian bookstores like Mardel will sell boxes with the purple and pink candles in them).  Each candle has a meaning I'll list below.  Some people put the advent candles within a wreath.  I did that for our first couple years of marriage.  You can definitely set them out without a wreath.  As you see below, the tapers surround the white candle in this set up:

I put the nativity behind the candles to emphasize the meaning of Advent.  One year I put the candles in the middle of our dining table along with a couple small nativities because I was hosting my family.  We celebrated Advent together that night:

The last couple years, since I have a small child whose hands are on everything, I have put the Advent candles on our mantel.  Our stocking holders are the nativity and so I put the white candle behind the stocking holder with the baby Jesus since it represents the Christ child.

Once you have your candles set up how you like, you gather your family and light them each Sunday.  On the first Sunday, you'll light just one purple candle.  The next Sunday, two purple candles.  The following Sunday, two purple candles and the pink candle.  The last Sunday, two purple candles, the pink candle, and the last purple candle.  On Christmas Eve, you light all four tapers and the large white candle.  For us, we have a verse we recite and song we sing for each new candle that is lit.  Below I have listed the verses and songs.

First Purple Candle: Hope 
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."  Isaiah 60:2-3

Song: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

Second Purple Candle: Love
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

Song: "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus"

Pink Candle: Joy

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder...For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:2-3, 6

Song: "Joy to the World"

Last Purple Candle: Peace
"Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."  Luke 1:78-79

Song: "Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing"

White Candle: Christ
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’”  Luke 2:25-32

Song: "What Child Is This?"

I hope that you have found this enlightening and helpful and that you, too, will be able to celebrate the tradition of Advent in your own home!

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

Every Thanksgiving, I read and post George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation.  Most people don't realize that the point of Thanksgiving was originally to thank God for the blessings He had bestowed on us.  Days of thanksgiving were declared all throughout our country's early history and did not become associated with the pilgrims and indians until later.  George Washington actually proclaimed the first nation-wide thanksgiving.  Washington declared the point of that thanksgiving day to be a time for people to acknowledge "with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God."  When I celebrate Thanksgiving, I don't mind the imagery of the pilgrims and indians, but I remember that this day is set aside, not to the glory of myself, but to the glory of my God.  It is a day to thank God for the blessings He has poured into my life by enjoying family and food, a reminder that I am thankfully well fed.  I hope you'll enjoy Washington's proclamation as much as I do and it will help you focus on the true purpose of Thanksgiving.

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
Go: Washington"

Beware Exaggerated Language

So in my English classes, I have harped on something I call "exaggerated language."  Exaggerated language is using words like "always," "never," "everyone," "no one" and so on.  When I grade papers that have these terms in them, I write beside them "prove it."  In other words, prove that no one ever likes to drink coffee.  Prove that everyone knows God is Lord.  Statements with exaggerated language are usually false.

Through the election season, I have been hearing an exaggerated statement (actually two) that I am sick of.  It's this: Conservatives don't care about the poor.  I want to say, "Prove it."  This myth that conservatives don't care about the poor (usually foisted on conservatives when they mention any kind of moral legislation because being concerned about morals automatically means you don't care about the poor) is plain wrong.  Let me give an example.

I'm going to pull from my pool of conservative friends.  Let's see.  At least five couples I personally know have adopted needy children, not to mention half my church.  All of them have gone on mission trips where they did such things as build homes, feed orphans, bring clothes and survival items to those without them.  My husband and I support two sponsor children, not to mention the large percentage of our budget that goes to charities that help the poor.  Our small group is spending its next meeting shopping and filling baskets of food for the needy.  My church partners with a charity working in downtown Dallas to help the homeless.  I could go on.  The point is, the conservatives I know help the poor.  Why?  Because God cares about the poor, so they do, too.  This idea that conservatives don't care about the poor is an outright lie.

So why are conservatives then charged with a lack of compassion for the poor?  What's really at root is not a lack or overabundance of compassion on either side.  What we have are different ideas of how to help the poor through the government.  Conservatives want to equip the poor with the ability to feed themselves and rise out of their poverty.  They want to teach a man to fish so he can fish for life.  They don't want to enable the ability to sit around and do nothing while the government fishes for me.  Others disagree.  They want to meet immediate needs, hand out everything they can so no one suffers in this country.  But understand, both sides care about the poor.  They have different ways of thinking how the government should handle the poor, but that does not mean either side isn't getting its hands dirty helping the poor.

(Here's the freebie, the second exaggerated phrase I've heard during the election: Conservatives hate women.  The catch phrase is "war on women."  Some say they demonize women.  This is so laughable, I don't want to address it with a whole post, a paragraph will suffice.  There are thousands upon thousands of conservative women, including myself.  Let me let you in on a secret: we don't hate ourselves.  Shocker!  This idea of a "war on women" pretty much surrounds one issue: abortion.  As Wikipedia defines it, "a political catchphrase used in United States politics to describe Republican Party initiatives in federal and state legislatures that are seen as restricting women's rights, especially with regard to reproductive rights."  It's any kind of legislation that is perceived to limit women's "rights."  Do you know we have tons of legislation in this country that limits rights?  We can't murder.  We can't steal.  We can't damage someone else's property and so on.  Conservatives do not view it as a right to kill a child.  That is murder.  It's not a war on women.  It's a hate of murder.  Others can argue reasons it is not murder, fine.  But don't pretend that because conservatives hold the belief that killing a child in the womb is murder that they hate women.  That'd be like saying because someone is okay with abortion, they hate children).

(This article will probably get me flamed.  So hear me.  I know there are conservatives who have said bonehead things and are the exception to the rule.  I hear what they say and I think, "That was a stupid thing to say."  There are people on the other side who have said bonehead things, too.  You can't generalize a group of people based on some bonehead sayings).

Happy Reformation Day!

Food and God

So I was driving home yesterday and I heard this great sermon by Wayne Braudrick, pastor of Frisco Bible Church, on the radio.  The title of the sermon was "Fact or Fiction: Christians Should Eat Only..."  I have never heard a pastor tackle this subject and Wayne did an amazing job.  Truly, I have gotten quite annoyed at the focus people have on food nowadays and Christians have been dragged into worry over food more and more.  Braudrick mentioned that in our culture today there are so many arguments over food.  I have seen an increasing amount of judgment from certain Christians towards their brothers and sisters, judgment that insists in order to treat our bodies like a temple of the Spirit, we have to eat this and such and not that and such.

A friend of mine said that food has become an idol for many Christians and I agree.  Many in the church have turned food into a legalistic fighting grounds.  Personally, I think Christians have done this for two reasons: 1) We live in a food obsessed culture and we are reflecting our own culture's preoccupation with what goes into our mouths.  2) We have bought into the lie that eating somehow affects our spirituality, that in order to be truly good temples for God, we have to eat certain things and avoid others.  The problem is, number one reveals Christians overtaken by culture, not God, and number two isn't biblical at all.

If you are a Christian who has become consumed with food, obsessing about it day in and out, or, like me, you want a biblical perspectice to wade through all the voices shouting at you about food, I recommend Wayne Braudrick's sermon.  He brings a refreshing biblical perspective to a topic so overwhelming in our society.

For the sermon, click here.  You'll find it on October 23 and 24.

Singles in the Church

I need to start this post off by coming clean and noting that I am not a single.  I did get married later in life than most young marrieds, so I did live in the real world as a single for a little bit, but I am not single now.  I am not writing this post to presume I can sympathize with singles.  I am writing to address a church that has lied to singles over the years and to tell the church, "Stop!"

Now, I have to confess that I have been one of the liars.  No, I never lied on purpose, that is, I didn't think I was lying.  But having several single friends share their struggles with me has opened my eyes to things I said that were outright unbiblical.  I read this article recently and the author, who is single, explains the single perspective on these lies well.  What I want to do in this post is point out the lies we tell singles in the church and call Christians to stop using these lies to "help singles" and instead, to speak God's truth.

Let me also define what I mean by single.  I mean anyone who is not currently married.  That person can be a youth, an adult in college, a working adult, middle-aged, older, widowed, divorced, etc.  I include all singles however they are single.

So, let's take a look at the lies and their truthful opposites:

1. "You need to keep yourself pure and wait to have sex because God is preparing someone you will have wonderful intimacy with."  The problem with this statement is the because.  How do I know God is preparing someone for this person?  Does God promise anywhere in scripture that he is going to provide a spouse for every single person that waits to have sex?  No!  Then why do we say this?  We say it to encourage a single to be pure sexually.  But listen to the implications of this lie: "If you keep yourself pure, you are guaranteed a spouse sent by God."  That is what a single hears!  A single thinks, "I keep myself pure because I want a spouse."  But that is not why we keep ourselves pure.  In fact, nowhere in the Bible does it say this is the reason we keep ourselves pure.  Then why be pure?  Consider these verses: "Love the Lord your God and keep His requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands always" (Deut. 11:1).  "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15).  "This is love for God: to obey His commands" (1 John 5:3).  Why do we keep ourselves sexually pure?  Because we love God!  Our motivation in keeping one of God's commands should always be love of God.  Yes, God gives commands for our benefit, so there are always additional reasons we should follow his commands.  But throughout the Bible it is clear: We obey because we love God.  That is foundational to Biblical truth.  The truth: "Keep yourself pure because you love God."

2. "Maybe you aren't married yet because God is molding you into the kind of person you need to be to be married."  This lie makes me cringe.  I love how we throw in the "maybe" just to make sure we aren't being "judgmental."  But really, what does a single hear when we say this?  "You aren't good enough to be married yet.  You aren't virtuous or spiritual enough.  If you were, you'd be married."  Oh, yes, because all married Christians are perfectly virtuous and spiritual.  Seriously, this lie is so outright ridiculous and yet I have heard people say it over and over.  News flash!  God doesn't require us to be perfect before we get married.  If he did, no one would be married.  So stop implying a single is somehow less spiritual because she isn't married.  Truth: "God is molding you into a reflection of Christ" (and end there, no implications).

3. "Maybe God is just waiting to send you the right person."  This lie is kind of a combination of the first two.  I can ask once again, "How do we know that?"  We don't!  I don't know God's plan.  (Yes, I see the excuse of "maybe" thrown in again, just to soften the blow and make me look less non-biblical when I talk to a single.  I did say "maybe" after all).  What I am doing when I say this is giving a single false hope.  If there is no one planned for their future, I have just pushed them into a hope that is not going to come to fruition.  I have encouraged them, not to seek God's plan, but a future plan that may or may not exist based on their desire.  So once again, a single hears, "Keep waiting and God will surely bring someone."  So will we keep telling a single that when he's on his death bed at ninety and still single?  Truth: Just don't say this.  You don't know God's plan, so don't pretend you have some special insight a single doesn't.

I'd like to give an example from my own life now, but it's kind of odd because it doesn't exactly concern singleness, but its opposite: marriage.  Bear with me.  The point will become clear at the end.  I am a weird person because I had determined that I was not going to get married and remain single, being a single missionary on the mission field.  I told this to a mentor and she said to me, "Do you realize you are telling God what he's going to do with your life?"  That thought hadn't occurred to me.  After all, I was giving myself to him wholly, so didn't he just want to take me that way?  After I talked to her, I had to repent and pray, "Okay, God.  Whatever you want with my life, that's what I'll do."  A week later, my now husband asked me out on our first date.  I write this to say that none of us can assume what God is going to do with our life.  We have to let him have complete control, which is a pretty scary prospect, because at that point, I relinquish my desire to make everything happen the way I want.  This goes for all Christians, single or married.  The point is, we shouldn't be telling singles to wait and be godly and just, you know, God will probably send someone because we don't know that will happen.  We can't presume to speak God's plan into the life of someone else, anyone else.  And I can't make assumptions in my own life.  I need to follow God and say, "Whatever you want."  That may be singleness and it may be marriage.  Who knows?  God and only God.

So, I am a reformed liar.  I don't say any of the above lies to singles anymore.  What I do do is encourage everyone, whether single or married, to seek God now.  Love God now.  Show him you love him by obeying him.  Make him your center.  That is biblical truth and that is what we should be telling everyone in the church, regardless of her marital status.

Divine Service

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
        Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
        From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
        If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
        Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
        I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
        "Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
        Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
        "My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
        So I did sit and eat

-George Herbert

I've been doing a Bible study this summer on Psalm 23.  Today the author included this poem since the verse that we were meditating on was 23:5, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."  In relating the meaning of the poem, she described anointing with oil as an action a host undertakes for an honored guest.  Then she said this:

"As you sit there, God comes up behind you and begins gently pouring oil on your head to anoint you. This signals to your enemy that you are someone special whom God has anointed and that you are protected. You might imagine God’s palms resting on your shoulders, maybe God even leaning over you in endearment. Can you feel God standing behind you this way?"

I realized I rarely think of God this way.  Like in George Herbert's poem, Love bades me sit and be the honored guest and I object that I am the one that must serve.  I was reminded of Peter when Jesus washed the disciples feet.  I've read that account hundreds of times, but never analyzed where I put myself in the scene.  I'm definitely with Peter.  If Jesus kneeled down to wash my feet, I would ask him to please let me wash his instead.  I don't feel like God's honored guest; I feel like his servant alone.

But doesn't God call us to be like he is?  If God says, "serve one another in love" (Gal. 5:13), then he is telling us to do what he himself does.  God serves us in love and we reflect this to others by also serving in love (1 Pet. 4:10).  God serves me so I serve others.  I learn what devoted service is because God is devoted to me and treats me like an honored and loved guest.  Not only that, but serving others IS serving God (Eph. 6:7).  It's a beautiful cycle of service: God serves me - I serve others - Serving others serves God - who serves me.

In Luke 12, Luke relates a parable that Jesus told about people waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet.  They are waiting for his knock on the door so they can let him in.  Jesus then says this, "It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them."  Jesus pictures his return as a master clothing himself to serve his faithful servants.  His servants recline at the table and he waits on them.  Is this not a startling image?  Do you see Jesus as returning to serve you, delighting to wait on you while you recline in peace?  It startles me.  I don't keep this image at the forefront of my mind.  I think I have to work and work; rest and peace and letting God serve me are far from my mind.

O Lord God, may I capture this image!  May I walk in confidence and peace knowing you have chosen me as your honored guest.  May I rest in this picture so that I can reach out to others, wanting to be to them what you are to me.