Let the Light Shine!

Christmas is certainly a season of lights. One of my families favorite Christmas traditions is riding around and looking at many of the homes who have decided to purchase stock in the local power company by creating landing strips for Santa. Lights are just a part of this amazing season. Fittingly it always has been. Shepherds were bathed in light on the hillside as the angels announced the birth of Christ. Wise Men followed a well lit and well placed star to discover the place where the baby lay. And amazingly enough, this baby that was born is throughout scripture described as "the light of the world". Jesus Christ, the reason for this amazing season, is synonymous with light.

Every year as we prepare to decorate, I am always stuck on light duty. Before you can put the lights on the tree or hang them outside, you always have to uncoil them and plug them in to check to make sure that they are working. It never fails, that as I begin to check them, there is always a strand or a section that is not burning. Unwilling or unable to just throw them away, I begin the process of painstakingly checking each bulb to find the reason for the section to be unlit. It only takes one severed connection, one burned out bulb, one bulb that is not set correctly, one small piece of copper filament out of alignment to cause a strand of bulbs to not let the light shine.

As our Savior was the light of the world, we are also called to bring light into the darkness. And yet sometimes, we don't shine as brightly as we are able. It's not a problem with the power source. It's not a problem even with our ability. More often then not, it's just something very small in our life that is causing our connection to the power source to be severed. As we count down the days to a new year maybe it's time for a little introspection to discover the source of the light outage. Because our world is certainly in need of people who are willing to let their light shine.

In an effort to improve my light outflow, I'm striving to be more thankful this year. I tend to be a very thankful and appreciative person but of late, I've noticed that I'm at times dwelling on the negative or the limitations or the areas of lack in my life. Instead, I want to begin taking a look at the multitude of blessings that are in my life. Just a few:

1) I'm so thankful for an amazing wife, Davina, who inspires me to want to be a better man. She gives wings to my dreams and she adds so much fun. I can't imagine living a moment without her kindness and caring love for me.

2) I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with two amazing children, Jordan & Abigail. They are each unique in their gifting and their talents and yet both are going to be wonderfully used by God. Each day, watching them as they mature, I'm so overwhelmed with my desire as a father to be a strong example of Christ that they can follow. Lord don't ever let my feet go where they can not follow.

3) I'm so appreciative of my parents, without whom this year we would not have survived. They have been an anchor in stormy seas and a constant source of love and support. With all my heart, I'm truly amazed by them!

4) I'm thankful for my brothers, their wives and their children. Family is truly a blessing from God and I'm thankful that each of them are striving to be pleasing to God and are examples of His kindness each day.

5) I'm thankful for my 14+ years at Life Church in Mechanicsville, VA. They prepared me to be able to endure when everything around me seemed to be sinking sand. Thanks to Pastor Buddy Thompson who allowed me to grow in my ministry and developed me as a leader. His ability to develop people is something I'm so thankful to have observed and hopefully learned. Thanks so much to the wonderful saints of Life Church who I miss every day, who made my time there valuable and showed love and kindness to my family. I pray God's blessings will continue to flow in the midst of this wonderful assembly.

6) I'm so grateful for Pastor Mark & Chantel McLeod and the wonderful saints of Church on the Move. You were, for me and my family, an oasis in a very dry place in my life. You restored to me my desire, drive and determination to effectively change this world for the cause of Jesus Christ. The future is so bright at COTM - I can't wait to see as God does what He does best, change the lives of hungry and willing hearts.

7) I'm so thankful to all of you, the folks who choose to read my mindless drivel and many who even take the time to encourage me to keep going. I'm so thankful to have reconncected with so many of you through Facebook or connected with you for the first time through this blog. It's amazing the people that God has brought into my life through this social networking medium.

8) I'm humbled and awed most of all by the amazing kindness and love of Jesus Christ. The fact that He looks beyond all of my faults and continues to love me in spite of them is so humbling. When He could, and probably should, give up on me, He remains an ever constant, abiding, faithful friend. While I have so many questions and probably annoy the fire out of Him sometimes, I know that He ultimately knows what is best for me. I have so many needs AND YET, He knows them before I ask (sometimes I wish He'd just answer a little quicker - I'm sure we all feel that way at times). . . Thank you Lord for loving me, teaching me and guiding me even when I don't deserve it, don't seem to learn it and sure can't figure it all out! You know me better than I know myself and I'm honored that you call me Friend. "No greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend."

And so I'd like to wish each of you a Merry Christmas - I pray God's greatest blessing on your life for the New Year that is to come. Let's together make an impact on our world as we Let the Light of Jesus Christ Shine through us into every dark corner and let's make a difference in the lives of those around us! God bless - love all of you - RP

Make Room For Jesus

Just over 2000 years ago, there was a husband and wife who had traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be taxed. She was nearing her due date and he was tired from the journey and worried about his wife. They arrive to find that there are travellers everywhere and of course they forgot to make reservations. No Vacancy is all they could hear. Finally one inn keeper offers the finest accommodations available . . . for donkeys. And of course, they take it and she goes into labor and their son is born amidst the mooooooing and bahhhhhing. And it was in such conditions that Jesus Christ was born into the world. It's the Christmas story, the reason for the season. Perhaps you've all heard of it before.

Many times, I think we've heard the story so many times that we no longer allow it to impact us. We miss the amazing nuances and powerful lessons hidden among the shepherds and the wise men. We forget the selfless sacrifice of a teenage mother and a confused husband to be. We take for granted the angels singing and the innkeepers inability to find a room. The story becomes "old hat" and we fail to allow Christmas to impact us the way that it should. Because we unfortunately don't make room for Jesus Christ in our Christmas.

Oh - we've got all the decorations. We've got the wonderful food, the office holiday parties and the Christmas Cards, the secret Santas and the sparkling lights. But do we forget Jesus in all of our festivities? If we fail to recognize His significance, Christmas is just another retail shopping trap designed to get you to spend more money than you can afford on gifts that won't be appreciated because they are given to people who don't really need them. So be careful to not forget the real reason for the season.

Growing up my mom and dad fought hard to insure that we always kept Jesus at the focal point of the holidays. Of course we had our Nativity scenes positioned in their optimum place and we went to multiple church services and we usually attended a Christmas play or a living Nativity scene each year. But the one thing that I've never forgotten was the emphasis they placed on insuring that we never forgot this great story. Every year on Christmas Eve while others opened gifts and had big meals, we gathered together in our living room and we prayed together as a family for those who were in need and had less than we did. And then together we all opened our Bibles and we read the passages from Matthew and Luke that reveal the treasure of the birth of Christ.

I'm all grown up now. I have two children of my own. But every Christmas Eve, if you happened to drop by my house, you'd see Rodney & Davina, Jordan & Abigail, Nanny & Papa, and anyone else that we can have stop by gathered together in our living room for a time of prayer and thanksgiving and then for a careful read of this amazing story. About 4 years ago, I passed on the reading responsibility to my son and this year for the first time he's going to share it with his sister. And I'll tell you, there's something so refreshing about passing on a tradition of such value to your children and watching them embrace it and look forward to it.

So this year - don't forget to make room for Jesus. Don't get to busy with all of the hustle and bustle that you forget the humility of a savior being birthed in a stable. Don't forget the power of shepherds having angels reveal to them a Messiah's birth. Don't forget the joy of wise men who chose to follow a star until it revealed a king. Don't forget the willing vessel Mary or sacrifice of Joseph. Don't forget the innkeeper who while he had no room, he gave what he had. Don't forget the animals who got a front row view of God stepping out of eternity and into a robe of flesh. Don't forget to give Jesus room in your Christmas and make this a year that your family will remember .... not for the lights or the presents or the parties. Rather, they'll remember because they rediscovered the true reason why we celebrate. Merry Christmas! Love you all! -- RP

Dealing With Disappointment

Have you ever heard the statement, "Into every life a little rain must fall"? Personally I expect a little rain. We all need a little rain. Rain is good. It brings nourishment. It brings refreshing. But what do you do when the "little rain" turns into a hurricane, tornado, monsoon, typhoon, blinding blizzard, and an earthquake thrown in for good measure. Well - I wish I could change the monumental forces of nature that may be blowing into your life right now but I can't. What I can tell you is that we all go through life and suffer disappointments and the difference between living a healthy overcoming life and wallowing in despair is how you respond to the weather that's blowing right now.

Disappointment is tough because by definition in order for us to suffer it, we have to have things happen to us that are the exact opposite of what we expected. None of us want to experience and therefore we are rarely skilled at dealing with it. And unfortunately the only way to learn to deal with it is to be disappointed. Do you see why this is so tough?

So what do you when you suffer disappointment? What do you do when the things that you expect to occur just don't? What do you do when you expected sunshine and all you see are storm clouds? What do you do when everyone else is feasting on the pleasure of life, all you seem to have is indigestion? You deal with it and you move forward.

Joseph has a plan. He's going to be a successful furniture shop owner. He's a carpenter and he's reputable and he works hard and he produces a good product. He's got a great fiance and he's building a beautiful home and his life is going great. Then his fiance stops by with some news. He's thinking that she's gonna tell him about the curtains she's picked out or maybe a new pattern of China that she found at the local Nazara-Mart. Instead Mary drops this extremely disappointing news . . . "Honey, I'm pregnant AND we both know it can't be yours AND just so you know it's by the Spirit of God. Oh and by the way, your family has still not RSVPd for the wedding." (Now I know I've used creative license there but I'm confident that Joseph's level of disappointment was about through the roof.)

So how does he deal with it? Joseph decides that his solution will be to send his fiance away to privately have the child and begins to reconsider the whole life that he's planned out. Just like you or I, when the disappointment storm rolled in, Joseph begins to reconsider every dream, plan or ambition he's ever had. But as he begins to wallow in self-doubt and disappointment, he discovers that God's plan for His life is bigger, MUCH BIGGER, than the life plan that Joseph had put together following his bar mitzvah. And to me that's why Joseph is the forgotten hero of the Christmas story - instead of allowing disappointment to derail him - he allowed God to reveal an ever greater plan that he could be a part of provided he didn't allow disappointment to control him.

So today - although disappointment affects us all, when it comes - and it will - don't allow it to derail and completely dissuade you from moving forward. Rather, allow your disappointment to make you more aware of the voice of God - because he just may you wake you up in the middle of the night and reveal your role in bringing Jesus to the world. It may not be the plan you had. It may not be the agenda you had in mind. But God loved you so much to send storms and tornadoes and hurricanes and monsoons into your life to make you aware that His plan was bigger than yours. So go ahead and listen and let your disappointment fuel the plan of God for your life.

Well until next time - let God lead you in your disappointing moments - discover His plan and follow it and eventually you'll see that the rain was necessary to prepare you for the moment when God's greatest plan will be revealed! God bless - love you all! -- RP

The Pain of Being Stretched

This past Saturday, we celebrated my son's 13th birthday. I'm amazed at how quickly the time has passed. It seemed like just yesterday that I watched him being born and now he's a teenager and I'm extremely proud of the young man that he is becoming. As a part of our celebration, we went to an indoor sports facility with some of his friends and played football. I realized very quickly how old and out of shape I'd become.

I used to be pretty athletic. I'd played sports most of my life but as I've gotten older, I've become less active and it has taken a toll. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't inept. I actually made a pretty good showing of myself. I didn't even embaress my teenage son. I threw a bunch of touchdown passes for our team. . . I looked good throwing the ball. But then a 14 year old kid who is fast as the wind, who runs all the time, decided to blitz me as the quarterback and suddenly my limited activity showed. I tried to run away and I almost slipped by him and then it happened. My foot slipped and down I went - someone watching said that I resembled Shamu crashing into the deep pool at Seaworld. I got up and kept playing and truthfully didn't feel too bad. . . until I stopped moving and it was time to come home. I started discovering pain in places I didn't even know had the ability to hurt. Every muscle, every tendon, every joint - everything was tight and it hurt to even move. And my first thought was - "I am too old to do this. I'm not gonna do that again."

Then I got to thinking. . . it was not playing football that had caused me to hurt so much. It was not running and throwing and diving and catching that was causing me to experience pain but rather the muscles in my body that had not been used in the fashion that they were created for were suddenly being stretched . And there is pain in being stretched.

Being stretched is never fun. It means that we're being pulled sometimes into positions or places that are uncomfortable. But for growth to occur, for us to become what we were intended, sometimes we've got to endure the pain of being stretched. Because as we're stretched we're given opportunity to grow. If I will remember the pain that I have experienced over the last few days and allow it to push me into getting in shape, I may not have to endure it again. Because I will have grown from the experience.

Do you feel as if you are being pulled in several directions? Do you feel like you are being stretched in directions you've never been before? Are you experiencing pain from being stretched? If so, consider the growth potentials that may be available in the midst of the pain. Let the muscles scream. Let the joints pop. Let the tendons ache. God may just have you where He wants you - being stretched into your destiny where His best can come to pass in your life.

Well - for now, I'm going to apply some Icy Hot to a sore thigh muscle . . . but hopefully the next time I won't need the old man creme. Maybe, just maybe, I will have grown from this experience and be closer to being in shape. Looking forward to talking to you again soon! God bless -- RP