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Isaiah 11:1-10
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a classic children's book about the children of a congregation and their experience performing a most unusual Christmas pageant. The local hooligans, a family of children with the last name of Herdman, are all cast in the annual Christmas play. In one memorable line from the book, one of the Herdmans threatens another child: "I'll take a pussywillow branch and shove it so far down your ear that it will sprout there… and you'll spend the rest of your life with a pussywillow bush growing out of your ear." While that pussywillow tree may not be quite what Isaiah has in mind when he talks about the "shoot" from the stock of Jesse, the moral of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is right in line with today's text: Jesus judges everyone equally, whether they are perfect angels of the choir loft or the bullying, rambunctious Herdmans.
Leah T.
Romans 15:4-13
It is amazing what power the written word can have. For soldiers during wartime, letters of encouragement can often mean the difference between going on to fight another day and succumbing to despair. Thanks to modern technology, soldiers no longer have to wait weeks or months to hear from loved ones. They can now speak by telephone, through email, or even through face-to-face video link.
Just as those words from a loved one can give hope to a soldier, the Word of God gives hope to us: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope" (v. 4).
Craig K.
Matthew 3:1-12
It's the Wild West. Tumbleweeds chase each other across the dusty street. The sun slants sideways as evening falls. A stranger comes into town, pistol on his belt, ten-gallon hat pulled low over his eyes. It's the dime-a-dozen Western plot: this new gunslinger rids the town of whatever the latest plague may be, whether it's crooked sheriffs, a gang of robbers, or a mob boss. The people beg him to stay -- maybe offer him money, a position as mayor or sheriff -- but he just tips his hat. He puts his gun back in the holster. He's made his changes. Tumbleweeds chase each other across the dusty street. The sun slants sideways as evening falls. And the stranger walks away from town, headed into the sunset, off to find other wilderness to tame and other hearts to tame. He's not a leader. He's just making the way clear for someone to step up and make a positive change.
Leah T.
Matthew 3:1-12
It is discouraging that so many Christian evangelists have popularized meaningless, and actually a detrimental theology. To the extreme we have Tim LaHaye promoting the decrepit nature of man, scandalized by humanism. Discussing how he came to write the Left Behind book series, in which only "believers" will know eternal peace, LaHaye relates, "This is an idea that the Lord gave me when I was on a plane. The airline captain came out of his cave and he started flirting with the head stewardess. I noticed that he had a wedding ring on. She did not. I began to see the sparks flying between these two and as he went back into the cockpit, I got to thinking, 'What if the Rapture occurred right now? On this plane, a third of these people would be gone. It would be pandemonium.' I imagined this guy, married to I assumed, a Christian, and all of the sudden it would dawn on him, 'When I get home, my wife will be gone, and I have been left behind.' That is where the title came from." But, as LyHaye sits in judgment, does he know the trials and tribulations of the captain and his need to be directed to counseling rather than into the fires of hell?
Literally, LaHaye collects and spends millions of dollars on himself from his enterprise of eschatological preaching. With his sell of books, accompanied by a movie proceeds, computer mouse pads, and all imaginable gimmicks in between he has amassed a fortune of personal financial wealth. When Christ returns mysteriously on the clouds of heaven to claim only his own, as LaHaye prophesies, I would like to be privy to this eschatologists' self-justification and rationalization for his unwarranted wealth. It is money that could have been spent on evangelistic programs exemplifying his message of the urgency to save souls; then, treasures on earth are difficult to surrender. In the accountability of life, one must ponder, would Tim be the only one left seated on that 747?
John the Baptist said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." If we truly believe in the message that we preach, then it must be reflected in our lifestyles, actions, and the words we speak. Proclaiming the message of judgment does not coincide with filling our coffers with gold coins from our endeavors. We may not have taken the vow of poverty, but when we joined the church we did make a pledge to be good stewards. And proper stewardship is a very clear indicator of the seriousness in which we entertain repentance.
Ron L.
Isaiah 11:1-10
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a classic children's book about the children of a congregation and their experience performing a most unusual Christmas pageant. The local hooligans, a family of children with the last name of Herdman, are all cast in the annual Christmas play. In one memorable line from the book, one of the Herdmans threatens another child: "I'll take a pussywillow branch and shove it so far down your ear that it will sprout there… and you'll spend the rest of your life with a pussywillow bush growing out of your ear." While that pussywillow tree may not be quite what Isaiah has in mind when he talks about the "shoot" from the stock of Jesse, the moral of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is right in line with today's text: Jesus judges everyone equally, whether they are perfect angels of the choir loft or the bullying, rambunctious Herdmans.
Leah T.
Romans 15:4-13
It is amazing what power the written word can have. For soldiers during wartime, letters of encouragement can often mean the difference between going on to fight another day and succumbing to despair. Thanks to modern technology, soldiers no longer have to wait weeks or months to hear from loved ones. They can now speak by telephone, through email, or even through face-to-face video link.
Just as those words from a loved one can give hope to a soldier, the Word of God gives hope to us: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope" (v. 4).
Craig K.
Matthew 3:1-12
It's the Wild West. Tumbleweeds chase each other across the dusty street. The sun slants sideways as evening falls. A stranger comes into town, pistol on his belt, ten-gallon hat pulled low over his eyes. It's the dime-a-dozen Western plot: this new gunslinger rids the town of whatever the latest plague may be, whether it's crooked sheriffs, a gang of robbers, or a mob boss. The people beg him to stay -- maybe offer him money, a position as mayor or sheriff -- but he just tips his hat. He puts his gun back in the holster. He's made his changes. Tumbleweeds chase each other across the dusty street. The sun slants sideways as evening falls. And the stranger walks away from town, headed into the sunset, off to find other wilderness to tame and other hearts to tame. He's not a leader. He's just making the way clear for someone to step up and make a positive change.
Leah T.
Matthew 3:1-12
It is discouraging that so many Christian evangelists have popularized meaningless, and actually a detrimental theology. To the extreme we have Tim LaHaye promoting the decrepit nature of man, scandalized by humanism. Discussing how he came to write the Left Behind book series, in which only "believers" will know eternal peace, LaHaye relates, "This is an idea that the Lord gave me when I was on a plane. The airline captain came out of his cave and he started flirting with the head stewardess. I noticed that he had a wedding ring on. She did not. I began to see the sparks flying between these two and as he went back into the cockpit, I got to thinking, 'What if the Rapture occurred right now? On this plane, a third of these people would be gone. It would be pandemonium.' I imagined this guy, married to I assumed, a Christian, and all of the sudden it would dawn on him, 'When I get home, my wife will be gone, and I have been left behind.' That is where the title came from." But, as LyHaye sits in judgment, does he know the trials and tribulations of the captain and his need to be directed to counseling rather than into the fires of hell?
Literally, LaHaye collects and spends millions of dollars on himself from his enterprise of eschatological preaching. With his sell of books, accompanied by a movie proceeds, computer mouse pads, and all imaginable gimmicks in between he has amassed a fortune of personal financial wealth. When Christ returns mysteriously on the clouds of heaven to claim only his own, as LaHaye prophesies, I would like to be privy to this eschatologists' self-justification and rationalization for his unwarranted wealth. It is money that could have been spent on evangelistic programs exemplifying his message of the urgency to save souls; then, treasures on earth are difficult to surrender. In the accountability of life, one must ponder, would Tim be the only one left seated on that 747?
John the Baptist said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." If we truly believe in the message that we preach, then it must be reflected in our lifestyles, actions, and the words we speak. Proclaiming the message of judgment does not coincide with filling our coffers with gold coins from our endeavors. We may not have taken the vow of poverty, but when we joined the church we did make a pledge to be good stewards. And proper stewardship is a very clear indicator of the seriousness in which we entertain repentance.
Ron L.
