Happy New Year!

My prayer and hope for you in 2008 is that the Holy Spirit will convince you—more than ever—that Jesus has done everything for you, has given everything to you, and, because He's now in you, will do everything for you.

Christ in you, the hope of glory! In 2008, and always.

To that end I also labor with Him. I'm a fortunate man.

Happy New Year!

Calvin & Hobbs

My thanks to the friends who sent these timely comics. I enjoy them. (If you are unable to see them properly, just click on the picture and it will open in a new, larger window.)

On The Way Home

Strange things happen when Santa's all done and headin' home.

Happy Day After

It's a beautiful day after Christmas, here in the Rocky Mountains. We received about a half inch of snow on Christmas day, giving us an official White Christmas. I took the above picture of ice crystals on our friend's windshield this morning when it was 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Chilly!

And it just so happened that my wife and I took our girls and a friend to see Irving Berlin's, "White Christmas," on Monday, Christmas Eve! A coincidence? We don't think so. . .It has been great. Going to see the musical and then having snow on Christmas was wonderful.

Anyway, we'll be seriously playing together for the next few days, and "exercising" via our new Wii. It's a work out! And, of course, we didn't get it because of the games and fun--no. We got it because of the exercise we'll get playing it. We think of it as an investment. Right?

Right.

Dazzled at Christmas!

May you know the stunning measure of God's grace to you in Christ, the power of His love, and the delight of His life this Christmas.

Now and every day, what is it that teaches and enables us?

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:11-14)

Our hope for you is that you remain dazzled by His grace! What is it that we work for? Both to keep ourselves in the knowledge of His love and grace (dazzled), and to assist you toward the same—dazzled.

Dazzled works!

Christmas Eve Scurry

It's Christmas Eve, and around my house, we're scurrying.

No, there's no last minute shopping--we've been done for a few days now. But we're sort of hiding from each other so we can wrap presents, make cards (a tradition around here), and assess our readiness for tomorrow.

Every now and then we kind of bump into each other--"Mom?! Where's the tape?"--or--"Someone has to vacuum the living room!"--or--"We have to be ready to go at 12:45!" My daughters don't know it, but we're heading to Denver today to see a performance of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." Sarah and I are really excited to take them. Two years ago we saw The Rockettes' Christmas, and it was fantastic.

So, a-scurrying we will go. . .all the way through Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Fake!

It's the weekend--you know what that means. Time to goof around a bit. My thanks to those who send me these funny comics.

I hope you're enjoying the run-up to Christmas.

Why Fruitcake?

I'm posting some Christmas funnies because I like 'em. If they're twisted, so much the better. I know, I know--they've got nothing to do with my blog's stated theme, but they are funny. Can that be enough?

And about this one, I don't actually want to be honest, but, well, I must. My wife likes fruitcake. A tragedy. I weep.

Really Glad Dad

My daughter just did one of those things that make me a glad dad—really glad.

While I was sitting at my desk, she opened the study door and walked calmly over to me. She wasn’t overly animated or particularly dramatic as she can often be when life requires her to burst into my study. “Daddy, guess what?! You won’t believe this, but. . .” Not this time.

She simply looked at me and said softly, “You know why I like reading my Bible, Daddy? I feel really good when I do. I just feel great. Hmmmmmm.” She stared off into space for a bit, and then titled her head thoughtfully, blinked a few times and left.

Marvelous.

We don’t require Bible reading from our girls. Pardon me if that shocks you, but we talk about God and what the Bible says all the time. All the time. The Bible and God are totally relevant in our days. But Sarah and I count upon the Holy Spirit’s conforming of our daughters—He promises to do it. And on this morning I saw it. He is giving His daughter the appetite that pleases her and Him most.

Romans 8:29 says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Sometimes Sarah and I have a front row seat on His predestined conforming work with our daughters. They’re finding His work and life within them is the best of this world, and that will induce them to want to be transformed (a cousin of conformed) by the renewing of their minds (Rom 12:2). Reading the Bible will be a delight and not a chore.

And I’m a really glad dad.

Salt & Leeches

Have you ever seen The African Queen? Starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, it’s a film classic, one I’ve seen lots of times if you count seeing it in bits and pieces.

A part I’ll never forget—probably because it’s so gross—is when Charlie (Bogart) pulls the boat through acrid swamp water, clogged with muck and reeds and algae and bugs and crocodiles. The worst part of it? Leeches. I hate ‘em. Because Charlie and Rose (Hepburn) are riveted upon their destination, the slimy, blood sucking critters latch on to him without his knowing. When Charlie climbs back into the boat for a break, there they are, in all their awful sycophant glory. Horrors. I hate leeches.

Ever ready, Rose applies salt to the bloodsuckers, which don’t take kindly to it at all, and regretfully drop off. (Side note: the film could have been better if, like snails, the leeches had gone all bubbly from the salt. Opportunity missed? I think so.) Rose and Charlie knew that if they were to proceed toward their goal of freedom, they had to momentarily break their focus and deal with the life-sapping leeches.

Yesterday I noticed there were some leeches hanging on me.

Simply, what was leading me through my day was not Jesus, but a crude, almost unrecognizable form of legalism. This time of year produces a bumper crop of standards and behaviors by which to measure oneself—and I was. I wasn’t entirely into Christmas joy and all that, so my family couldn’t be, either. I hadn’t done enough to secure Emma’s gerbil, Despereaux, so he was killed. I wasn’t properly shepherding my girls, reading to them and praying with them. I wasn’t encouraging my wife enough. I hadn’t written or called or emailed enough people, and God knows how tragic that is(!). Sheesh.

Do you see it? In each case there was a perfect “A” I could get on the report card of my day, and in the fleshly estimation of that perceived goal, I fell short. I didn’t bother to check with God. After all, wasn’t it true?! I mean, look at the evidence! So why check?

Leeches. I had ‘em all over me.

So last night, almost in a ritualistic way, I climbed out of the routine boat of my day, and said a few fairly meaningless words to God. “Hey, Lord. How’s your day? Ready for Christmas?” or something like that. And perhaps because I didn’t come to Him carrying my deserved condemnation, but my weary carcass only, He began to lift and free me of worldly estimations. For the 905,000 time I remembered—God is my life and peace and freedom and rest and joy and love. I do not live well by what I do (which is not to say it’s unimportant), but by who I know. When what I’m doing is influenced and fed by that (life by the Spirit), it’s all good.

Damn the leeches.

You and I have been made free in Christ—stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. . .you, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh;. . .(Gal 5:1, 13) The “yoke of slavery” or the indulgence of the flesh threatening the Galatians wasn’t drunkenness or cheating or lust, it was life by measurements, life by standards on the way to getting the “A” on life’s report card. Trouble was, they already had it! But Satan had induced them to believe that life by checklist was better than life by knowing and trusting Christ—God for us and God with us and God in us. As long as they believed they weren’t yet free, weren’t yet good enough, hadn’t yet done enough, or hadn’t received absolutely everything from God for entirely nothing, living was a mucky, leech filled swamp.

If that’s where you are, get some salt—you’ve got leeches.

Do almost anything toward God, with Him in mind (cook a meal, sing a song, read a verse, tie your shoe), and see what He does for you—the inside you. He is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and He loves being that for you, since He made you a perfect place for Himself.

Take a moment and stop pulling so hard. You are His boat—He’ll do the pulling. And He’ll mix salt with your leeches.

Christmas Twists

Yes, I like twisted humor. Well, okay—I have twisted humor. When a funny offers a twisted take on a tradition or on some sort of notable classic, I think it’s particularly clever. And I enjoy inflicting it upon you, blog reader.

Like this—

Santa HO-HO'S and NO-NO'S

I enjoyed this and thought you would, too. It's by Peter Chianca, and you can go to his blog here. It's a good one.

To: Mall Santas
From: Management

Welcome aboard in your new role as one of "Santa's Helpers." Please review the following guidelines carefully, so that the mall and its patrons can have a happy, healthy and non-litigious holiday season.

1.) As you've no doubt heard, "Ho Ho Ho" is no longer considered an acceptable holiday greeting, having been deemed potentially offensive to women and gardeners. The substitute "Ha Ha Ha" has also been banned, as it is possibly damaging to a child's self-esteem. Also, Santas overheard saying "Merry Christmas" will be summarily removed from the premises. Instead, we recommend you listen attentively to the children, nod, and affect a blank stare devoid of any emotion, particularly fear. They can sense fear.

2.) Please keep in mind that not all children believe in Santa Claus or celebrate Christmas. However, please make no attempt to determine this based on physical cues, such as yarmulkes or "Proud Jehovah's Witness" T-shirts, as this would be considered profiling. If you have any questions, please consult the mall's attorney, who will be standing behind the fake snowman.

3.) Plump Santas are no longer considered "jolly." Instead, they serve as a bleak reminder of our nation's struggle with obesity and are a poor role model to our increasingly overweight and inactive children. Please make every effort to appear slim and fit, and to encourage children to leave you celery and soy products rather than cookies and hot chocolate on Christmas Eve.

4.) Please do not promise children that Santa will bring them anything in particular, as promising a gift that the parents cannot afford or do not approve of could result in a lengthy and expensive lawsuit. Be pleasant but non-committal. If the child is persistent, try to distract him with one of the celery sticks we now give out in lieu of candy canes; if that doesn't work, send him behind the snowman to speak to the attorney.

5.) It has been deemed inappropriate, and a serious legal risk, to have children sitting on a strange bearded man's lap. This year the children will sit on a stool, separated from you by a sheet of soundproof Plexiglas. This also serves the purpose of keeping you from being able to hear their gift requests (see No. 4).

6.) The concept of elves has been determined to be offensive to a host of protected groups, including little people, pointy-eared people and people with high squeaky voices. However, so as to give you the support you need, we are looking at several possible replacements. Right now we're leaning toward attorneys.

We're sure that if you follow these simple guidelines you will succeed in making the children's visits with Santa as unremarkable and non-offensive as possible. Welcome aboard the team here at the mall, and have a merry ... a happy ... Oh, whatever.

Christmas Shopping All Done?

This video came to me from a friend who shall go nameless—he may need protection. It's entitled, "Menopausal Women." I like it. . .a lot, in a sort of twisted way.

During this peak-season of happy consumerism, I think it's all about what shopping can do to us. What do you think?

Happy shopping!

Ah, Yes

If brevity is the essence of whit, this ought to do it.