Category Archives: Jesus Christ

Special Obligation: Christ for Christmas

Posted on by
Reply

Photo courtesy of www.visualphotos.com

I’ve only bought one Christmas gift and we don’t even have up a tree. Yep, it’s four days until Christmas and we only have stockings and lights on the mantle, occasional Christmas music wafting and much talk from my 9 year old about wanting a gaming system. Praise God that my husband did some shopping online and picked up a stocking stuffer, but I have done almost nothing. This is not the Christmas season I planned, though it looks closer to the one that I’ve wanted for years. I have wanted to do away with a tree, most of the fattening foods we eat, and gifts that I still can’t figure out what have to do with celebrating someone else’s birthday. I wanted to give up the feverish frenzy of planning, shopping, plotting and hiding, trying to perfect a day whose traditions I question greatly. I wanted to focus on Jesus, celebrating His life that came to earth as human to save all of our lives.

My first major step toward this was writing the blog series “The 39 Days of Christmas,” where for 39 days I examined one Old Testament book each day for Jesus’ presence. Revisiting the posts this year has kept me centered on the One who gives life to this season. Tending to my mom, who has been hospitalized five and a half weeks and has had at least three near-death experiences, has kept me centered on the giver of life this season. Knowing that it was humanly impossible for my best friend’s 91-year-old grandma and her elderly aunts to escape the fire that consumed their home but not them this morning keeps me focused on the giver of life this season. Knowing that I have met insanity, depression, weariness, and frustration this season, but they have not become my friends, helps me rejoice this season about Jesus! Jesus must be the main focus. If not we will succumb to the ones whose job is to kill our joy, frown our smile, drown our spirit and muffle our praise. But Jesus gives life, preserves life and balances life. He is life (John 14:6). So the Christian has the special obligation to have Jesus as the central focus at Christmas time. No other way will do.

What are some ways that you have focused on Jesus this Christmas? What do you need to change in order to make Jesus the focus of Christmas? Please, tell me what you think.

Securely There

Posted on by
2

Every day without fail when he can’t see me Nathaniel is going to ask “Mama, where are you?” Though our house isn’t that big and he may have seen me five minutes ago, he makes it his business to keep constant tabs on me. I just couldn’t wrap my mind on how this three year old could think that I could just disappear. Once, I didn’t answer Nate when I was trying to put one-year-old Justus to sleep. After calling for me throughout the house, Nate finally asked Joshua where I was. “She’s in Justus’ room.” “No she isn’t. I looked,” said Nate, who didn’t come all the way in the room to see me holding Justus in the corner chair. Joshua, my oldest, then told Nate something that we all need to know about those we should be able to count on: “Mama is here. She wouldn’t leave us.”

This is what children everywhere should know about fathers and mothers, what spouses should know about the other, and what true friends should count on in each other. But parents, spouses and friends leave—they walk away; they die—and leave us wondering who we can count on. I don’t know if I had separation anxiety like Nathaniel has, but after a big fight between my parents and my daddy leaving for the night I knew parent separation could be my reality. So what do we do, tell our children too, that will give us the everlasting security we need?

You know the answer is Jesus who will never leave or forget about us (Hebrews 13:5). This I tell my children while I am sane, so they don’t look to me to be their everything when I can give them nothing. I want them to know that Jesus’ words are true, that He heals, protects, guides, comforts, and provides for me too. Jesus uses me to give to them my time, talent, treasure—my full soul, my full self. No matter how many times I try to carry my strong black woman mantle, I know I can do nothing without Jesus. I can do anything with Him. I am secure and need no one else to make me sure about anything. Stability with Jesus is what I am thankful for. Even though I can’t see Him, I know He is here because He would never leave me.

Listen to how singer-songwriter Aaron Shust puts it:

I have assurance of salvation (1 John 2:21-25). I know Jesus saves me from hell on earth and saves me from hell after I leave this earth (John 3:16-21). I will spend an eternity with Him. This He promises. He is not a man that He would lie (Numbers 23:19). What He says will come to pass, whether I have seen it or not. Whether you believe it or not, it’s true. Seek Him for salvation all who have not put their trust in Him (Romans 10:9-10). Now is the appointed hour. Tomorrow may be too late. Don’t wait. Seek him now.

My One Thousand Gifts List

#311-320
Justus sleeping through the night, giving me two full nights of sleep in a row
Quiet time with God
A decent outfit for Joshua to wear to church
Joshua getting up in time to go to Sunday school and his doing so for the last month
A husband who prioritizes family above all else (except God)
Justus’ gurgling milk giggle
Joshua and Nathaniel having a conversation after Nate asked “What is it?” when he saw Joshua expressing surprise about something
Nathaniel rallying Joshua and me to dance with him
Being able to cook dinner after a busy Sunday
Being able to help Flynn edit a eulogy

Don’t Deny Me

Posted on by
Reply

One of my EEW readers last week commented that it’s difficult for Christians to share our faith. Though she said my column was excellent it still seemed to me that she was not concerned if her college-aged sons witnessed to anyone about Jesus; she was just satisfied that they still walked with God. I acknowledged that witnessing can be difficult but said “but witness we must,” as a reminder to her that we don’t have a choice to simply be good Christians who love Jesus all for ourselves. No matter the difficulty, we are called to share Him with others, through building a rapport with them so they see our love for them and eventually our love for God that they too might want to have Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord.

Even as I gently reminded her, God loudly reminded me the same when I got a late-night invitation to a private dinner for the next evening for a woman that my heart aches for. I had to attend to share my love for her and God even though I didn’t know if I would have any brothers and sisters in Christ there with me. Though recovering strong black women have had very few problems facing difficulty, everyone appreciates a partner when you go in the trenches. A short battle ensued at the party, and I had to stand alone.

The guest of honor wanted me to bless the table by “keeping the prayer general” and then instructed me to include the names of various gods at the end of my prayer. After pausing, knowing I couldn’t follow that instruction but not wanting to defiantly offend her, I sat in silence waiting for the Holy Spirit to instruct me. He whispered, “If you deny me before men I will deny you before my Father” (Matthew 10:33). And though I knew denying Jesus was not an option, the Holy Spirit’s reminder emboldened me to stand firm on my conviction. “I’m a Christian and I pray in Jesus’ name,” I said. After demands to “just bless the food,” I repeated, “I’m a Christian and I pray in Jesus’ name. She wants me to pray in general. I don’t want to offend anyone.” The guest of honor decided to pray and I was glad we had food to give us something else to do besides talk. The moment was tense and I thought the night was ruined, but the night actually got better.

The guest of honor and one of her friends began to engage me in conversations of faith. Her friend even asked what church I attended and voluntarily said she was going to visit. Only God can shut the mouths of lions in the lions’ den and keep us from getting burnt in the furnace. Only He can turn darkness into light. He did that for me and I am grateful. We have to trust Jesus and His plans for us. “We ought to obey God rather than man” and leave the consequences up to Him (Acts 5:29).

My One Thousand Gifts List

#291-300
A good husband
Flynn proposal that I take the money set aside for the retreat and go on a personal writing retreat with Nichole
The joy of knowing that Flynn’s proposal was from God (I thought the same thing once I discovered the other retreat was sold out.)
An exceptionally good time with Flynn
Flynn loving me with all my flaws
Physically comfortable sleep
Andrina and Floyd for keeping the children
Getting toothpaste and toothbrushes from the hotel because we left ours at home
A husband who reminds me not to complain (in this case about the taste of the toothpaste)
For taste buds that work

Word Power

Posted on by
2

Mine was a word weekend, filled with messages from movies, conversations with friends, dreams I got to meditate on long without interruption from alarms, electronic and human. And these words soothed and stretched me, made me contemplate my life, what it is and what I want it to be. Words have the power to do that.

The filling started Friday in a packed theater for the power-packed movie Courageous, the new feature film by the Kendricks brothers. I’ll give more of a review of that on Wednesday, but this film challenged my faith and made me want to make the most use of how I fill space with words. Perhaps with a more raw approach so did Higher Ground, the film based on the memoir by Carolyn Briggs that I saw on Saturday.

Vera Farmiga in Higher Ground, picture from the New York Times

Higher Ground detailed the coming to Christian faith story of Corinne, a woman who meditated on words, created images with them, wrote songs, felt alive and free with them. It was others who tried to control her with words and the Word, the Bible itself. When we don’t know for ourselves the freedom found in the Word, bondage is a guarantee. With the Word at our disposal, we, like Corinne, search for something more, something better and turn out bound and empty, discovering what we had was exactly what we needed. When our faith is true, the Word, Jesus Himself, has penetrated our being and given us all we need. Though I love words, I recognize they have no writing power for good and no effect on me for bad when I am filled with the Word and subject to Him.

My One Thousand Gifts List

#251-260
Sitting in the big chair and feeding Justus a banana
My husband’s diligence in getting the car towed and repaired
Christen’s gratitude for me reading to her and her having more gratitude
Justus’ language explosion
Tabitha calling to ask if we needed her to pick up something for us from Target
The labor cost being the lowest at the mechanic we chose (and this was the mechanic Tabitha told us about unsolicited and the only one we could get in contact with)
Not paying as much as initially anticipated to get the car out of the impound lot
Listening to, advising and praying for a friend in distress
Nicole’s heartfelt note about her view of me as a wife, mother, minister and friend (Proverbs 12:17)
My hubby speaking sweet desires to me

Never Forget

Posted on by
Reply

“Never forget” were the words that stood strong and rang loud this weekend as the world observed the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Most of us will never forget that tragic day when terrorist suicide bombers crashed planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon and attempted to fly into another building in Washington, D.C. We remember where we were, what we were doing and how we felt. My husband and I had a late work day so we slept in and were then going out to breakfast. I woke up first and decided to turn on the television, something I rarely do. It was about 10 a.m. There on the TV screen was silence and a view of one of the Twin Towers smoking. A few seconds later I saw a plane crash into the second tower. I hollered Flynn awake to see if he could shake me out of my disbelief. I wanted to believe that I was watching the making of a movie, but upon hearing the panic of the news commentator I knew I was seeing footage of real time attacks. I saw objects ejected from the first tower like they were thrown out. We all eventually learned that was exploding debris and people plunging to their deaths, probably panicked, not knowing how else to escape the impending ruins. We know more than 3,000 lives were lost, thousands more affected directly, and we all were changed from the 9/11 tragedy.

We must never forget the day folks woke up but not to do so again on this side of life. We must never forget that their deaths caused us all to have new lives most evident in the way we travel and interact with folks we think may be terrorists. Folks died but many of us still struggle to live thankful and fear-free lives; we are well aware that another 9/11 could happen and we could be among the casualties.

“Do this in remembrance of me.”—Luke 22:19

Jesus said this, the one who died a cruel, tortuous death so that all humankind might live. “Do this in remembrance of me,” he said so we never forget his being flogged and dogged to death—crucified—so that we might have new life, that we might survive—thrive—never to wallow in death but to rejoice in the new life that He brings. When we die in Christ we wake up to a new life of yes to Him, being our best for and through Him, putting down our angst for and through Him, shutting down the attitude for and through Him. When we say yes to Christ’s death we make it possible for Him to live in us, to forsake our strong black woman ways and stave the part that makes us want to forget that we have died to our old self. And we must never forget death for from it always springs new life, and, sometimes ironically, we are the better for it.

My One Thousand Gifts List

#221-230
Being in pajamas all day
Cuddling with Nate
My husband being able to relax
Joshua and I writing letters to Daniel
Joshua’s thoughtful letter to Daniel
Joshua’s excitement about writing to Daniel (after first hesitating about doing it)
A civil meeting
Hearing a great sermon
Dinner with the Beelers
Andrina and Floyd babysitting