It’s kind of depressing and a great deal disappointing knowing how America has been trained into becoming a disposable society. By this I am referring to how most everything nowadays is just thrown out or torn down, instead of fixing or repurposing.
Can you believe how fast December made its appearance this year? Children, old and young, will be looking forward to the coming of Saint Nick and all the traditions of the holiday season. Decorations of lights and yard decor started up even before Thanksgiving! Let the hanging of tinsel and lights begin! There is such pleasure in watching a child’s eyes light up in anticipation of things to come as gifts begin appearing beneath the twinkling, ornament bedecked Christmas trees.
What a gracious privilege it is to be called to bear the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But there is no doubt this comes with a high cost. To follow Christ, one must exercise the graces of love, humility, patience, self-denial, and a willingness to lay their life down for the cause of Christ. In other words, we should as Christians be laboring with all diligence to be conformed to the image of Christ by offering our body as a living sacrifice unto God. That is, we should strive to be like Christ in the purity of His human nature, for He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Recall His self-denial and sacrificial love He demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane. The scriptures bring to our fading memory the very moment of suffering where the Son of God entered into an intense conflict within Himself crying in agony, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done,” as His sweat became like great drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
Baptists have interesting rituals when they hire pastors. So far we’ve been through two hirings at churches, and the process can be fun and interesting, but also grueling. Imagine that you have a face to face job interview after weeks and sometimes months of phone interviews. This face to face interview will last two to three days, and, by the way, it’s not just an interview for you, but for your entire family, including cranky toddlers who have been sleeping in a strange place for a few nights. Let’s just say that things can get interesting.
The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is widely referred to as the holiday season. Holidays such as Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa all take place in this typically six-week window. During this period, there’s another, possibly lesser known, event that can elicit many of the same warm feelings generated by more recognizable holidays.
213 E. Main St.
PO Box 577
Olney, Texas 76374
Phone: (940) 564-5558
Fax: (940) 564-3992