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what i would have said

so last sunday was winter wicked so we (and about 400 other churches) pulled the plug on sunday morning…for your reading pleasure here is what I would have said…this message was inspired by a small article by lee strobel that i read years ago…

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

God…capital “G” God
With…not over or under
Us…sinner and saint

People take names very seriously, don’t they?

The library has books on what to name…your sailboat, cat, dog and baby.

The greatest challenge for me in the days leading up to birth…THE NAME

Modern books recommend names for your child based on what image you want them to project.

- INTELLECTUAL POWER NAME makes them sound serious and studious…Janet, Natalie, Rachel, Norman, Walter or Charles.

- HANDSOME NICE GUY NAME, try… Adam, Bryant, Eric, Jeremy or Nathaniel

- MACHO NAME, there’s… Bart, Conan, Curt or Gus

- UPWARDLY MOBILE NAMES, like… Hannah, Maggie, Phoebe, Calvin, George and Travis.

Just as names are important to people they are important to God as well…

In Genesis we read about a man named ABRAM.

At one point, God said to him, in effect, “No, no, that name will no longer do for you. Abram means the father of one family, one tribe, one clan. I’m going to rename you AB-RA-HAM, which means the father of a multitude of nations.”

And centuries later God fulfilled that promise on Christmas Day, when Jesus was born through the line of Abraham, and through Jesus, the entire world — a multitude of nations — has been blessed.

Now the name Jesus has an important meaning, too.

First Century baby book, you’d find that it means “GOD SAVES”

But today I want to emphasize two other facets of His name.

What’s In A Name? – - >Matthew 1:18-23 < – -

“…you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

- Jesus – speaks of His approachability.

“Jesus” was quite common in those days – it was like naming him “Joe”

Lucado – “there would have been six or seven ‘Joe’s’ in his class”

And it was the very ordinariness of the name that suggests His APPROACHABILITY.

Nobody ever was reluctant to approach Jesus for fear of being rejected.

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” — which means, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23

- Immanuel – this speaks of His proximity.

Immanuel was a descriptive name given to Him because He was God with us.

Sistine Chapel – John Madden telestrator – arrow and circle…

As great a miracle as Christmas was — the greatest example of downward mobility in history, where Jesus left the majesty of heaven for a dirty stable — as great as that miracle was, there’s also a continuing miracle of Christmas. And it’s this… Jesus is still Immanuel…He still has proximity and He still has approachability.

His final words…”And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

Three Implications Of God Being “With Us”

1. Every time you stumble, God sees it. So ‘fess up.

Sobering truth – every time we stumble ethically or morally, God knows it.

How often do you and I fool ourselves into thinking that we’re getting away with something in our lives?

We’re like Moses, who wanted to murder an Egyptian soldier, so Exodus 2:12 says “he looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian.”

He looked this way and that, and thought he was getting away with it.

But do you know what? He never looked up.

- We fudge some numbers and we tell a lie and say to ourselves, “Hey, nobody will ever know the difference.”
- Or we break a promise to our spouse and think, “I covered my tracks; she’ll never find out.”
- Or we spread around a little slander, but we think, “Nobody will ever trace it back to me.”
- Or we pocket something that isn’t ours and say, “They’ll never even notice they’re missing.”

Ultimately we don’t get away with anything!

Every time we stumble, even if others don’t catch us, even if we think we’ve pulled it off, even if we’ve carefully covered our tracks, God knows.

Hebrews 4:13 says: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.”

So what should we do?

I think Jesus would offer a two-word prescription: “‘FESS UP.”

Just be honest enough with God to come clean.

The longer we wait to ‘fess up = more strain on our relationship with Him.

Jesus said that when the Spirit of God is present “he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” (John 16:8)

This is the hardest aspect of God’s presence.

The truth is: my desire for God can be pretty selective. Sometimes, I want God not to be around.

The soul that chooses wrong runs from God.

The Scripture writer says that when the face of God will no longer be avoidable, the soul will cry out in agony “to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne.’” (Revelation 6:16).

You know, it may be that out of all the prayers that are ever spoken, the most common one, the most quiet one, the one that we least acknowledge making, is simply this:

Don’t look at me, God.

It was the very first one spoken after Adam and Eve’s sin.

God came to walk in the garden, to be with the man and the woman, and asked: “Where are you?” “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid, so I hid …”

Don’t look at me, God.

- A businessman on the road checks into motel room late at night. He knows the kind of movies that are available to him right there in the room. No one will know. His wife won’t find out. His kids won’t see. (He knows the drill and that hotels have a disclaimer, “The name of the movie you watch won’t be on your bill.”) Go ahead. No one will know. But first he has to say a little prayer: “Don’t look at me, God.”

- A mom with an anger problem decides to berate her kids because she’s so frustrated, because she will get a twisted rush of pleasure from inflicting pain— But first she has to say a little prayer: “Don’t look at me, God.”

- An executive who’s going to pad an expense account

- An employee who is going to deliberately make a coworker look bad

- A Christ-follower who makes financial decisions that will keep him from tithing, keep him from being the kind of steward he knows God wants him to be

- A student who looks at somebody else’s paper during an exam

- A longtime church attender who relishes the opportunity to pass judgment on somebody else

- A couple who claims to follow God but refuses to give up sleeping together

- A participant in a bitter divorce who chooses to hang on to resentment and self-righteousness

First you have to say a little prayer.
You don’t say it out loud, of course.
Probably don’t admit it even to yourself.
But it’s the choice your heart makes:
Don’t look at me, God.

Be honest with God: “God—the truth is I don’t want you here right now. I want to do what I want to do. But I’ll stop. I’m willing to surrender. I’d rather let go of my anger/addiction/pride than let go of you.”

Proverbs 28:13: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

So whenever we stumble, God knows it — that’s sobering. But there’s compassion when we ‘fess up.

2. Every time you struggle, God feels it. So open up.

Jesus isn’t just “God with us” in that He has proximity to us, but He also is with us in the sense of actually having become one of us on Christmas Day.

He’s “God with us” in the sense of being knit together with us by the common experience of walking the earth and living life.

Because Jesus walked the earth, we can feel confident even today that He will have a special sensitivity and empathy with us when we bring Him our struggles and our wounds and our pain.

- Feeling REJECTED? Jesus can relate because He’s been spit upon and mocked.

- Feeling BETRAYED? Jesus can relate because at His biggest time of need, His best friend abandoned Him.

- MOURNING a loss? Jesus can relate because He was moved to tears by the death of His friend Lazarus.

- Tied in knots by ANXIETY? Jesus can relate because He grappled with it before His crucifixion.

- TEMPTED? Jesus can relate. Hebrews 4:15 says: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” Then listen to verse 16: “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”

Human Tendency – to bottle it up…pressure builds…explosion occurs…POP CAN

And so what should we do?

I think Jesus would give us a two-word prescription: “OPEN UP.

I think He’d say, “Draw near with confidence, that you may find grace in your time of need. And draw closer to My followers in the church, because they’re the ones I like to use to help heal people’s wounds.”

Friends, every time you struggle, God feels it. And that should be encouraging.

First Peter 5:7 says: “Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.”

3. Every time you sacrifice for Him, God honors it. So keep it up.

In other words, whenever it costs you something to follow Jesus, He knows about it and He will pay you back…

- Every time you jeopardize your reputation or your career by standing up for your faith;

- Every time you sacrifice short-term pleasure in order to obey God by resisting the temptation to stray sexually;

- Every time you swallow your pride and forgive an enemy instead of plotting retribution;

- Every time you’re in a hurry but you pause to commit an act of kindness anyway;

- Every time you’d rather indulge yourself but you invest in God’s business instead;

- Every time you’d rather relax on a Saturday but instead you get elbow-deep in the life of a hurting person;

- Every time you’re tired but you take the time to serve others in the name of Christ;

- Every time you could be making big bucks by working overtime but you choose to serve the needy through a ministry of some sort —

- Every time you make those kinds of sacrifices and you think that nobody else notices — GOD NOTICES. And God cares.

And God rewards you not only with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment today, but He promises rewards in eternity as well.

Proverbs 11:18 says, “He who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.”

I think maybe Jesus would give this three-word prescription to the people who serve and give and help people in the trenches of life: “KEEP IT UP.”

Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

The God who is with us gives us all we need to “live free” this Christmas season.

quest leadership group

each month i have the privilege of meeting with a group of church planters for the purpose of growth in our leadership…i look forward to these times and hold each of these guys in high regard…our time together this morning from 7-9 was time extremely well spent and i walked away with a continued appreciation for each of them in their ministries…for your reading pleasure here is a little info on each of the guys that i am “questing” with this year (along with a unique fact for each of them)…

Dennis Jackson – http://dennisjackson.blogspot.com/ – Dennis serves as the leader of the group and is a source of wisdom and encouragement. Unique Factoid :: Dennis took his entire family (four kids and his wife Gwen) on a trip around the world.

Jon Allen – www.thejchurch.com – Jon and I attended college together and have been able to reconnect in recent years as he moved back to the area. Unique Factoid :: Jon hasn’t had a carbonated beverage since college.

Phil Struckmeyer – www.impact-church.org - Phil is a school teacher turned church planting champion. Impact Church didn’t exist six years ago and today they are a vibrant work in Lowell. Unique Factoid :: Bears a striking resemblance to Waldo of the Where’s Waldo books.

Adam Lipscomb – www.citylifeonline.net – Adam and his wife Christy are co-pastors at City Life which is a multi-ethnic church in the heart of Grand Rapids. Unique Factoid :: Once ate dinner with the president of Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson.

Brian Aulick – www.engedichurch.com – A native of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Brian pastors Engedi Church and has led the church in the formation of multiple initiatives to serve the community. Unique Factoid :: Served as an intern at Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicagoland area.

good quote

“Here is one choice that our Father wants us to understand as Christians – and I believe it is the choice of our age. Do we want to be brave or safe? Gently, lovingly – our heavenly Father wants us to know that we simply can’t be both.”
— Gary Haugen

phil’s talk via wordle

9 on the 9th

Nicole McDonald over at Table Scraps (http://tablescrapnic72.blogspot.com/2008/09/10-on-10th.html) wrote something of a Jerry McGuire-like manifesto recently challenging her readers to step up in the area of health. Specifically, her challenge was for her readers to…

- Commit to improving your health over the next 10 months. Whatever that means to you.

- Commit to posting on your blog/website/Facebook on the 10th of each month; share 10 tips/insights/experiences/celebrations/points of gratitude from the month. [I have multiple conflicts on the 10th, so I will be posting 9 on the 9th]

- Commit to giving encouragement, accepting encouragement from others, and doing this journey together.

As someone who has always found physical health as a challenge, Nicole’s blog was a sufficient kick in the posterior and a motivator to get going again on this journey. So, here are my nine tips/insights/experiences/celebrations/points of gratitude for the month related to personal health…

1) One of the best things that I did this month was to sit down with Tom Trout (new principal at Nickels Intermediate School) to talk about his approach to health. Tom is a physical specimen with something like .09% body fat. He is a runner – he proposed marriage at the finish line of the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii. He is just a great guy. He and I had a great talk about good foods and bad foods and how to get started on the exercise journey.

By the way…Tom shared a great recipe with me that we will enjoy at the McCallum house often (is that weird that two guys exchanged a recipe?).

Here it is at number two…

2) Black Bean Pizza

One Boboli crust (or comparable)
Spread a little olive oil on the crust and sprinkle with Italian Seasoning.
Spread one can of diced or crushed Italian style tomatoes over the crust.
Spread one can of rinsed and drained black beans over tomatoes Spread one package of frozen chopped spinach (de-frosted with water squeezed out of it) over beans Spread your favorite cheese over that….we like feta and mozzarella.
Bake at 450 for about 15-20 minutes.
We usually have a salad with this pizza, which is usually plenty for the 4 of us.

3) I started walking/jogging/crawling…I actually find myself in something of a training mode as I plan on running in the Detroit Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day.

4) I stopped eating after 8pm. Snacks used to rule the day…I no longer snack that late at night.

5) I started ordering healthier options in restaurants (except for yesterday’s lunch that I had with Dan Takens – it looked much like the pic in the link – that one was not a healthy option at all).

6) I stopped using this phrase, “I don’t like to exercise or eat healthy things.”

7) I started praying about it…it may sound odd coming from a pastor but I made it a matter of prayer and reflection.

I stopped eating mindlessly – far too often I would eat when I wasn’t hungry at all and that is not good.

9) I started going to bed earlier…less awake time = less time to think of things to eat and also to fresher mornings

thanks mark wilson for a couple good quotes and watkins for a good article

From Mark Wilson…

The modern day church is often a weak and ineffectual church and is often an arch-supporter of the status quo. — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Teachers might not change the world in dramatic fashion, but we certainly change the people who will change the world.

From Jim Watkins

Who is most ‘pro-life’?

A candidate’s position on abortion has always been an important issue for me. But I’m also aware that a “pro-life” position is much broader than simply protecting the life of the unborn.

So, when I came across ProLifeProObama.com, I was intrigued.

Douglas W. Kmiec, is pro-life and pro-Barak Obama. The Constitutional Law professor at Pepperdine University and former dean of Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., makes the following arguments in his new book, Can A Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama.

Overturning Roe Vs. Wade Will Not End Abortion in America

• Overturning Roe Vs. Wade, a long time goal of the pro-life movement, would not end abortion in the United States, it would simply send the decision to the states.

• If states with more than 45 percent “pro-life” sentiment chose to outlaw abortion, this would only impact 16 states accounting for 10 percent of abortions nationwide, or less than 100,000 abortions a year.

• Women in these 16 states would still be able to travel to seek an abortion in another state, or seek an illegal abortion, making the impact likely less than a 10 percent reduction in abortions nation-wide.

• States with the highest abortion rates in the country, like California and New York, would be unlikely to outlaw abortion in their states.

[Source: Catholics United Study "Reducing Abortion in America: Beyond Roe v. Wade"]

Studies Show that Economic Support for Women and Families Reduces Abortion

• In a recent study released by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good finds that social and economic supports such as benefits for pregnant women and mothers and economic assistance to low-income families have contributed significantly to reducing the number of abortions in the United States over the past twenty years.

• Economic assistance to low income families is correlated with a 20% lower abortion rate. Across the entire United States, this translates into 200,000 fewer abortions.

• In the 1990s, states with more generous grants to women, infants and children under the age of five as provided by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program had a 37% lower abortion rate.

• Higher male employment in the 1990s was associated with a 29% lower abortion rate.

• The abortion rate has declined most rapidly from 1990-1996 when there was an economic boom under President Clinton. While rates have continued to decrease, they have declined less rapidly in recent years when poverty rates have been climbing.

[Source: Catholics in Alliance Study "Reducing Abortion in America: The Effect of Economic and Social Supports" and The Guttmacher Institute "An Overview of Abortion in The United States"]

Hmmm? So, looking at the overall platform of the “pro-life” Republicans and “pro-choice” Democrats, which party will do more to reduce the number of abortions in America? I’m going to have to give this some thought! What are your thoughts?

change

I am with Ronnie Floyd on his thoughts today…

Change is the buzzword on all political fronts this year.

With the Presidency at stake, change is the word both major candidates are using continually.

Matters like “real change” are being debated as well as who will provide “the needed changes.” With the challenges that have faced our nation the past few years, as well as recently, change seems to be catching the attention of the American people.

Please understand, I would like to see many things change, and have for years. I have often wondered what it must be like for a sitting President to listen to those on the campaign trail as they seek after his job. I would imagine he hears them say things he said, and thinks to himself, “Once you get this job, change just does not come easy.”

The kind of change we need in this nation today is the kind that only God can bring. In this polarized political environment, only God can bring two opposing sides together. Only God is the one who can provide real change. Does He want America to change? I am pretty convinced He does. Yet that change is there awaiting us.

Therefore, we must pray for change. We cannot determine who the next world leader will be, but we can determine to pray. We need to pray for our nation. We need to pray for this election. Yes, involvement is good because influence is possible, but prayer is even better. Another way to say it, when you are involved in the processes, also pray.

May God continue to change us, then true change becomes more than a buzzword. It becomes a reality.

around the web…

We all misspeak from time to time…we say the wrong thing at the wrong time…the words just come out wrong…even for presidential candidates (love Obama visiting 57 states and still not making Alaska and Hawaii!) check out the clips here

Have been enjoying this blog…link here

Josh McNall has hit the big time!

A great post recently from Seth Godin on why people make decisions that seem out of sync with yours.

thanks mark wilson for the quotes

Over many a Christian leader’s record could be stamped these words: LACKS POWER. Why do so many ministers and lay leaders have a vague restless awareness that something is lacking in their leadership?
– Wesley Duewel, Ablaze for God, p. 78

perhaps the greatest lack in most Christian leadership and ministry is this divine bestowal, the Spirit’s empowerment. . . . Perhaps the greatest, and most revolutionary change that could happen to your leadership would be for you to receive and continually experience the divine dimension. Once you receive it and experience the difference it makes, you will not want to minister without it.
– Duewel, Ablaze, p. 79