Finishing Well

Like many sports fans, I watched the game tonight; the BIG game. And what a game it was! I was pleased with the intensity that both teams displayed, especially the Giants. Until the last quarter. It seemed they felt being ahead was good enough. It seemed like their passion melted into medicocrity. To be sure, they picked up the pace in the last 2.5 minutes. Sort of. Maybe. But the damage had been done. The clock ticked down. With one minute to go, Eli Manning made it interesting.

Sports historians and fans won't remember the losing team for long. They will remember the winning one, though. That is what we do; we remember winners.

The Giants could have been the team we remembered. If they had finished well, we would have remembered them. If those first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter had been played with the same passion as the rest of the game, then we would be talking about the Giants now.

That is what I want to do. I want to finish well. I don't just want to begin well; I want to end well. To be sure, I want that to happen about 40 years from now, or when Jesus returns--whichever comes first. It doesn't need to end today!

What does finishing well mean for me? It means preaching and teaching with more depth and understanding than I did last year. It means loving with more passion than ever. It means proclaiming the gospel with more urgency than I had as a young man.

For every Christian, finishing well means a greater intimacy with Jesus. It means being so in love with the Lord that we delight being in his presence more than anything else. It's not unlike Moses, when he sat in the niche in the rock on Mount Sinai as God passed by, showing him his glory. It is not unlike Enoc, who walked with God and one day just walked on into God's presence, where he remains to this day.

Maybe it's age I hear creeping up on me; but I find myself taking stock and paying more attention every year, every month, even most weeks. I want to be sure I finish well.

You can finish well, too. But to finish well you must begin well. You must begin with a repentant heart and with a faith placed in Jesus alone. After all, it is Jesus who died for your sin. It is Jesus who was buried and raised from the dead.

If you have placed your faith in anything else--say, a particular church, or keeping the commandments, or your own good works--then turn to Jesus now. Place your trust in him and call on him to be the Master and God of your life.

Begin well.

Live well.

Finish well.

A Not-So-Holy-Holiday

For many, including myself, Christmas is more than a holiday; it is a holy celebration. Our tradition includes prayer and the reading of Christ's birth in Luke, chapter 2. We give gifts--lots of them; but we remember the main thing.

That was not so for some. My daughter works part time at a theater. They had to call the police when a wheel chair-bound lady attacked a pregnant lady. Silent night, holy night....

I read about a store clerk who attacked and viciously stabbed a customer in a mall in Jackson, MS. All is calm...

America has a ready answer for such events: holiday stress. I watched morning news broadcasts that told me over and over again about how to avoid holiday stress.

Let's go to the root problem, folks. Jesus is not the main thing for too many of us. Our families may be; our own reputation as being a generous giver may be; but Jesus, the reason for the season (pardon the cliche), is playing second or third chair in our symphony.

The dust has settled for many of us. So take stock this week. What kind of holiday was it for you?

Blessed Are the Persecuted

This is not what I intended to write today. But I just read a news story that I feel compelled to share. It's about defacing a Nativity scene in Oregon. In case you do not read the story, let me give you the first paragraph: "Vandals stole baby Jesus figures from two west Eugene nativity scenes early Thursday and left severed pigs’ heads in their places. Police are calling it a possible bias crime."

The act was heinous. The desecration revealed the souls of some very sick people. If a joke, it was a sick one; think of the children who may have witnessed that scene.

As bad as the act itself was, the last two words were what caught my attention: "bias crime." In our PC world, if this had happened to any other group it would have been a hate crime. If it had happened to those claiming certain immoral sexual freedoms, it would have been a hate crime. If it had happened to certain other religious groups, it would have been a hate crime. If it happened to certain ethnic groups, it would have been a hate crime. But it happens to families celebrating Christ's birth and it is called a bias crime. What is wrong with that scene? Who chose to soften the reality of this crime?

What's more, according to the reporter, the police did not seem to consider the act worthy of response--at least initially. They were content to take reports over the phone. The act seems to convey the message that crimes against Christians are not important enough to respond to. Christ's prophecy to his disciples is being fulfilled: "if they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." - John 15:20

My point is succinct: if it is hatred towards others, called it hatred towards Christians, too. Don't apply a double standard.