Merry Christmas Everyone!

My reflections on the Christmas story Luke 2:8-20  (read it OR listen to it here on YouVersion.com)

Shepherds!  Why is Luke – a careful, meticulous doctor – telling us about shepherds?  They don’t seem a very likely lot to be included in the story of the King of Kings.

Yet, boom!  They get THE NEWS!  They get an angel!

Amazing?  Joyful?  Picturesque?

Frightening. Dreadful. Overpowering light.  “This could mean our death!  We have seen an angel of the Lord!”

Stories told of angels visits in the past – stories transmitted generation to generation even amongst shepherds – would have provided further incentive for fear, angst and desire to hide.

Contrast this encounter with Joshua 5 and Exodus 3

* The angel attempted to calm their fears.  (This did not often happen with angelic appearances in the Old Testament.)
* Angels appeared to common folk – even mere shepherds, mere scoundrels.
* No urgent admonition to remove shoes
* No command to go and do something brave for the Lord
* No prompt to go DO anything at all -  just a hint of how to find Jesus

12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

Whoa!  WHAT? What is this that we’re seeing and hearing?

This announcement signals a brand new way to encounter God:

* You can get close to God and live to tell about it!
* Yes, we’ve a deep need to revere Him but we, even we as scoundrel shepherds, are invited to come and touch Him!
* Walk right up to the King of Kings and talk to Him.

Through this announcement we are given great confidence to enter the most Holy place and actually live to tell about it. (Hebrews 10)

It’s even better.  Perplexing a bit, yet incredible, fascinating news:  We enter the most Holy place because of the gift He brings us – not because of the gift WE bring.

Big news.  Good news.  Not so frightful, yet awesome.  And humbling.

Spread the news.

Recently I finished a time of sabbatical.  It was about giving my soul a quiet place.  Being still. Reading the Word. Listening.

Every four years, missionaries with Campus Crusade are allowed 30 days to step away for spiritual renewal.  Although I knew I had this rare privilege, this is the first time in 18 years with CCCI that I’ve taken advantage of it.  I followed the advice of Ken Cochrum and others who gave excellent tips for planning a successful sabbatical.

Two Things I learned:

These hardly seem radical.  Basically, it was just really good to be reminded of some key things.

#1  Rest is a very good thing

God invented rest.  Not because He needs it, but because He knows we do.  I had to convince myself that it’s ok to radically step away from the hectic pace of life.  Yes, it required planning.  In my case I had to postpone a few projects I was working on and hand off others work to coworkers.  The Lord provided space and time to read His Word and rest.  Those were the two things I did at length.  But were there distractions?  Well, the reality is that you can be distracted in an empty room in the middle of a desert.  So, I had to turn off my email, social networks, cell phone, etc.  (Ah, now you know why I haven’t been in touch for so long!)  It took about 3 days before I felt free to fully disengage from my world of real-time communications.  Yes, it felt like I was going through withdrawal of some sorts without a digital life, but after a short time… I didn’t miss it at all! I felt more focused – like my brain was actually functioning better.  Also I felt more in tune with my family and immensely enjoyed spending time with them.  So, in short, I was reminded that SLOW DOWN is a Biblical command to be heeded at regular intervals.  It did me much good in terms of physical, mental and spiritual rest and renewal.

#2 God’s Word speaks

Yes, His Word is living and active and is always busy accomplishing His work.  The treasure of His Word is ready to dwell in me richly every moment of every day.  Yet my tendency sometimes is to try to force His Word to speak – to emphasize it on His behalf – especially when I am facing a decision point or pressing needs in my life.  And, true, at some busy points in my life a particular Bible verse has grabbed my attention with vigor, leading me to a certain path or plan.  He does bring emphasis at busy or critical times.  But when my soul is quiet, and I spend time with Him at leisure, His Word seems to float up and around every thought.  The things He seems to say are much more relational and always draw attention to Him.  During my time of rest, He seemed to say through His Word: “See, I am rich in time.  I have time for you and I love you.  My agenda is Me.  Believe in Me and simply walk with Me no matter where I lead or what the circumstances are.  Only I can truly satisfy.  Only I can do true work.  Only I can love you perfectly.  Rest in Me.”

Trusting God

Shannon and I started reading this book by Jerry Bridges.  We also purchased the Discussion Guide that comes with it and made time to talk through some of the questions there.  We’ll hope to continue to talk through it.  Several of the chapters deal with God’s control over events or circumstances in our lives and dive in to many Scriptures on why it can be difficult to trust God, even when it’s somewhat easy to obey God.  Excellent book!

So, all in all I highly recommend a sabbatical rest.  Whether it be for 30 days or whatever length of time.  May He meet with you richly there!

The kids are not usually early risers.  But believe it or not, they all rolled out of bed immediately at 6am earlier this week to hurry down the street to our favorite viewing location for the Shuttle Launch. Cool video. Clearly visible for entire 8 minute burn of main engines. Lights up the whole early morning sky:

Trouble viewing video above?  If you’re recieved this post as an email, and you are reading it in an email program, you might try this link instead:  http://www.facebook.com/v/667284135209

Wow, good morning to you to!! Wouldn’t you like to be greeted at the entrance like this everyday?

Help give food and water in His name for earthquake victims – Global Aid Network has 1 million meals on the ground in Haiti: http://htxt.it/eMfQ

Global Aid Network – www.GainUsa.org – is Campus Crusade’s humanitarian arm.

This morning I heard a report from one of our national staff members in Haiti:  He was not in Haiti when the quake happened, yet was in Miami for a training conference.  His wife and children were at home when it hit.  Only yesterday did he finally learn that his family was safe!

Others of our staff have not been located or heard from in Haiti.  In total there are approximately 20 full time missionaries with Campus Crusade in Haiti.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

L.D. “Babby” Hand, Jr., certainly the greatest father in the world, went to be with the Lord September 27, 2009.  I can’t begin to describe the deep levels of impact Dad has had in my life and walk with the Lord.  He was a quiet man.  His words were few but if you caught him at the right time the communication you received was priceless!  He had a special way to assess a situation with wisdom.  When he told you what he thought, it was quality, sage advice – never overexaggerated opinion.  Yet, due to his quiet ways, he often could catch you off guard with his witty sense of humor.  His laugh and his smile are engraved in my memory.  Hopefully this post will capture a scant portion of some moments of his dry wit – read on below.

The funeral was extremely God honoring and humbling.  Dad never liked any extra attention, but it was a very accurate celebration of his life.  He met Jesus in a personal way about 20 years or so ago. Basically we’ve been celebrating with him ever since then here on earth, now we celebrate him being fully in God’s presence.  My father had always been a church attender and perhaps had a meaningful salvation experience early on in life.  But about 20 years ago – roughly the same time my life changed as a student in college – I began to notice many distinct changes in my Dad’s life.  God’s powerful love seemed to flow through him.  And he began to serve the Lord – in many ways totally behind the scenes.  He volunteered at the state prison nearby – working with Prison Fellowship Ministries to coordinate Bible Studies.  For many years he coordinated the Project Angel Tree program for our county – providing Christmas presents for the children of prison inmates who would not get to spend Christmas with their fathers.

My brother Hollis spoke at the service – following up a great message from two different pastors – and really put an incredible cap on the whole service.  It was a wonderful tribute – just perfect for illustrating how Dad had a strong faithfulness to us that we never doubted.

For the full text of Hollis’ tribute, click here to download the text file. But here are a few choice excerpts.  My slight edits are in [brackets]:

“[Dad] always persevered through adversity through faith and hard work. He was very fortunate to not struggle with materialism as so many men do. He did not care at all if our house was relatively older and smaller than most of our neighbors. . . . He had no problem at all with driving older, rusted cars rather than buy one he couldn’t afford. I remember being very upset with him when I was about 14 or 15 years old and we had only one car in our family, an old Chevrolet Nova – [no air conditioning] – with almost 200,000 miles on it. [But now]  how proud I am now of how disciplined he was with our family finances!”

“     Dad’s own legacy is that he loved the Lord with all his heart, and to his family he showed unconditional love and commitment that honored God. His life and ministry to others are evidence of Christ’s overflowing love that lived in his heart. As it is written in God’s word:

Love is patient, love is kind it does not envy, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13,1-8, NIV

Anyone who knew my Dad would agree that you could easily substitute his name in place of the word  “love” in this passage.  Dad showed his love for David and me in the most excellent of ways: he was always telling us how proud he was of us, and he always wanted to spend time with us.  David and I enjoyed spending time in his office with him when he was president of the Hand Trading Company. We went with him to the Albany airport when we were young to watch the airplanes land and take off, and Dad renewed his pilot’s license so he could take the whole family on an airplane ride in order to celebrate David’s 6th birthday. We went to see air shows to see air force jets and other military aircraft perform. We would build model airplanes and rockets together, and then go to my granddaddy’s farm to shoot the rockets into the air in a field and watch them parachute down. Some of those rockets are still on the mantle of the fireplace in the den of mom’s house, as a reminder of his legacy of love for his sons.”

As I reported a little over two weeks ago, my father hasn’t been doing so well.

He went back in the hospital about 4 days ago.  I’m in Pelham with he and Mom now.  We’re taking turns at the hospital.

Dad’s condition from his dementia has slowly declined over the last few weeks.  Additionally, just after he was admitted to the hosptial a few new issues have cropped up, including:  some sort of upper GI problem or small ucler, an infection causing bleeding in the urinary tract – most likely caused by prostate irritation, and even hiccups that simply will not go away!

The infection and the other problems have left him too weak to walk, and his mental and verbal abilities have really tanked.  At times he is hallucinating, we think.  It is really hard to tell what he is thinking or feeling at times.

This morning, however, Dad did perk up a bit and actually had a very brief “conversation” with his doctor.  I think Dad basically told him he wanted to “get out of here.”  The rest of today he has been quite restful, thankfully.

We’ll keep you posted.  The doctor indicated it’ll be at least 2 or 3 more days before his infection is under control.

Following Jesus is a response to His lavish grace and love. It involves repentance, which is also a response to His great initiatives of kindness and love.

Often the closer I get to Jesus the more I see I need Him.  The more I see I’m so prone to sin.  I’m pondering and wanting to understand more of the stark contrast between wordly and godly sorrow.  Here’s the quote from a Bible commentary which really gripped me:

The sorrow of carnal men about worldly objects, loss of fortune, fame, or friends; which, being separated from the fear and love of God, and faith in his providence and mercy, frequently drinks up their spirits, breaks their proud, rebellious hearts, or drives them to lay desperate hands on themselves.

Btw, I was looking at 2 Corinth 7:10 on Blue Letter Bible.  this is where I found the commentary.

What’s of further interest is that BLB has a MOBILE VERSION – sweet on a cell phone browser.  Check it out here:  http://mobile.blb.org/

Our chance encounter with the President’s arrival at Tri-Cities airport for a quick visit last week.  Obama was breezing through for one of his town hall type meetings at the local Kroger there.  Surprisingly he did not have time to receive an invitation to Avery’s 10yr birthday party, which we celebrated that same night.

Video during our patient wait of his arrival:

And the big plane did arrive!

The motorcade rushed past us – just 100 feet away.  At least we got a wave:

See a few more snapshots here on our Facebook album.

Hard to believe she’s in double digits. We celebrated with a small party last week.

For her present, we gave her 2 tickets to the Barter Theater in Abingdon to see the musical – Wizard of Oz.  She loved it!  . . . And she chose me to be her guest and escort!