Evotions

Drop the Tinsel and Read This!

Dec 29, 2009 3:37 pm by Paul Jenkins in Culture, Evotions

Luke 2:19
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Even as I write this, my neighbors are packing up Christmas and shoving it into a corner of their attic. Granted, Christmas has officially been over less than 10 hours, but God forbid we’d keep the lights up any longer than necessary. After all, we have been listening to Christmas music in stores since August, haven’t we? Isn’t it funny what a rush we’re in to bypass Thanksgiving so that we can get to Christmas, and yet we can’t pack it all away fast enough when it’s over? I mean, non-Christian radio stations played Christmas music longer after Christmas than one of the Christian stations I listen to from time to time!

Of course, I get that we can’t leave Christmas up all year (although I do know someone who pushed their artificial tree in the corner and covers it with a sheet for quick access the next year!), but I think we can probably learn something from Mary. You remember her, right? She was the wonderfully willing and obedient 13-15 year old girl that was the first to have to pack away Christmas. Jesus was born, the star had faded away, the family get-together was over, and she was left with that “it’s all over” feeling that many of us have at this time of year. Our verse even says that she, too, kind of packed it all up and stored it away. But there is one key difference between the young mother of Jesus and most of us today…

She didn’t forget. That word “pondered” is an interesting one. It literally means to converse with oneself, often in a heated, debating way. So, here is a young lady packing all the things she experienced in that first Christmas up and then talking through with herself what she had just witnessed. The long journey, the shepherd’s visit and excited story about a night sky lit up with a glowing choir, the faithfulness of Joseph’s love in the face of overwhelming confusion. And of course, the baby. That beautiful baby Savior who, even at His earliest breath in a manger, wasn’t afraid of the mess that so often surrounds us in this life. I can see her, can’t you? Holding Him in her arms, lips moving without sound as she recalls the moments. Sometimes laughing, sometimes wiping a tear from her eyes.

Pondering is like that. Sometimes we like what we remember, and sometimes we don’t. I’m sure that your life in 2009 was much like what Mary experienced (well, maybe without the mega-watt choir!). There were great moments, hard moments, times when your eyes danced in laughter and others when they bowed in pain. Our job now, as we pack it all up and put in back in it’s place, is to remember, reflect, relive the faithfulness that God showed when no one else did.

Treasure what you saw, ponder it as you pack it away, and be amazed at Who He is…again, and again, and again.

Giving like the Giver

Dec 24, 2009 11:26 am by Paul Jenkins in Evotions, Family

Christmas Evotions Giving

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Last night I experienced my favorite part of the holidays. Behind closed doors, Parker, Will, and Sydney all worked feverishly in their rooms wrapping the gifts that they had purchased for others. After the tape was torn, bows were attached and tags were filled out, they emerged with smiles on their faces and arranged them perfectly under the tree. Then they sat at the dinner table and talked non-stop about who was going to like what gift the most and which gift they were most excited about giving. Not bad for two 11 year-olds and a 7 year-old. Actually, not bad no matter what the age.

I told them all later how much joy it gave me and their mother to hear them talk so excitedly about the presents they were giving as opposed to the ones they would be getting, and that attitudes like theirs made us enjoy giving to them all the more. I couldn’t help but think of this verse and how it’s been taught so incorrectly over the years. I remember even seeing a charm once with a shovel and a wheelbarrow that tried to interpret this verse in a “you can’t out-give God” kind of a way. I get that on some levels, but I think that verses like this can get cheapened by analogies like that, because they miss the point that true giving never needs any motivation to give other than wanting to see another person be blessed. Who cares if there’s a wheelbarrow that might be full for us, because if we truly understand giving, we’ll probably just give that away, too.

I want to give like the Giver, free of the hope that my generosity will be returned or that someone will see what I’ve done. I want to give freely so that others can freely use what I’ve given, and until I can do that, I have a lot to learn from my children.

How about you?

Making People Sick

Dec 21, 2009 8:11 am by Paul Jenkins in Culture, Evotions

Disappointment Evotions Hope snow Weather

Proverbs 13:12
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

This past week-end, a lot of people (including my three children) woke up disappointed around our area. Seems that big ‘ol wintry mix of a storm that was supposed to come our way didn’t, and instead we got to see images of surrounding areas with anywhere from 6 inches to almost 2 feet worth of newly-fallen goodness. We should be used to this by now, because this is typical for where we live. It seems every year there is a major snowfall and it misses us by the smallest of distances, but this disappointment was made more severe by the build up on the news throughout the days before, and that’s where the crux of this Evotion comes from.

The weather guessers on our local stations use winter weather as a tool. They shoot short 30-second teasers about possible winter weather in the area and lead off the newscast with some zinger about how “it looks like there could be some white stuff headed our way, but we’ll get you the detailed 5-day forecast in 10 minutes.” They milk this stuff for all it’s worth, and then, when they unveil the 5-day forecast, they’ll show a map that projects snowfall in the mountains of North Carolina, which are 2-3 hours away from us. It always makes me wonder if the people living in the mountains watch the Charlotte channels. I would guess they’ve got there own weather guessers, right?

Sorry, I’m bitter. More to the point of the verse above, though, is the fact that weather guessers seem to have a disease that we’d better not catch in the church. They OVER-PROMISE AND UNDER-DELIVER. They’ll use the hope that we all have of a white Christmas against us, and so they’ll promise the possibility of one even if the likelihood of it is less than a snowball’s chance in, well, somewhere really, really, hot. As a result, people tend to not believe what they hear the weather guessers say. I’m one of them, and so when they tease me with the possibility of the “Storm of ’09″ next week-end, I’m more likely not going to rush to the store for bread and water because it’s the same old song and dance. Over-promising and under-delivering makes the heart sick, and at some point, people take their hearts and go somewhere else.

Apparently, if you look at church attendance data, people are doing just that. Having heard the faith preached like a weather guesser vying for a rating’s increase, they’ve determined that the church just can’t (and never has) deliver the goods. Tired of being disappointed again and again, they’ve chosen to stay away. That’s the natural progression when people take us at our word that the next sermon series will be “the best ever” and they come to find it not even as good as the previous average one.

It’s time to start OVER-DELIVERING, and when we simply give them the truth and grace of God without all the hype of a rabid weather guesser, we will.

Thanking the Jerks Around Us

Dec 15, 2009 2:50 pm by Paul Jenkins in Evotions, News, Personal

Accidents Evotions Jerks

Philippians 3:8
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…

I’m still steamed. Saturday night Wendy and I met Phil and Jennifer Baucom at Carrabba’s for our That Youth Thing staff Christmas dinner and had an awesome time. We laughed, ate, and talked about all the good things God has done and is doing. We drank way too much sweet tea (if that’s possible) and even got to know our waitress pretty well (who, for the record, has worked at Carrabba’s long enough to have had, and gotten tired of, every dessert on the menu). Topped off with a stop at Starbucks for coffee and conversation, and it was a fantastic evening. Right up until I asked Wendy for some chapstick while we sat at the light in Richfield about 6 miles from home, and **BAM!!**

It was one of those moments when you know what just happened isn’t something that normally happens, but it’s so out of the norm that you have no idea what it really was. After a couple of seconds, Wendy said we’d been hit, and sure enough I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the headlights of the car that had rear-ended us at the light. As I started to get out of the car, some motion in the mirror caught my eye, and I looked in it to see the headlights getting smaller and smaller. Sure enough, this person that hit us had thrown it in reverse and drove backwards as fast as they could about a tenth of a mile and turned down a backroad. I was stunned!

We got out to inspect the car and saw no major damage, so we thanked the Lord for His faithfulness and went home. The next day, though, we saw the small dent and the chipped paint, and that’s when I realized that I needed to thank the ~~jerk~~, umm, I mean, person who hit us. Now I don’t want to thank this person for hitting us, or even for running away, because the more I think about it, that makes me want to hit them. But I do know that it is the losing of things that makes us realize how much we’re attached to them, and this whole experience made me appreciate even more the fact that Paul was able to say that he considered everything a loss compared to the greatness of knowing Christ. For me, everything includes a minivan, and I wouldn’t have realized that I was holding it so firmly if a jerk hadn’t knocked it out.

I hope that you are able to enjoy a jerk-free day, but in our culture that seems to be a fleeting thing. They are, it seems, everywhere. They provoke us, they push us, they hurt us. They do all kinds of things that make us want to do all kinds of things back, but the biggest thing that jerks do is help us see how attached we are to our stuff, our rights, our, well, minivans. Maybe instead of just being angry, we could be thankful for seeing that we still need to loosen our grip on what matters less, and strengthen our grip on the Lord.

And so, to all the jerks out there who put us in the place to make that choice, I thank you.

Now, if I could just catch you, perhaps I can knock some sense into you, too!

When Jesus Stands to See

Dec 14, 2009 9:30 am by Paul Jenkins in Culture, Evangelism, Evotions

Evangelism Evotions Martyrs Neyland Stadium Standing Tennessee Volunteers

Acts 7:56
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Have you ever attended a sporting event and watched the crowd interact with the action? If they’re bored, they’ll start the wave. If they’re excited, they’ll scream. If they’re mad, they’ll boo. And numerous times during the event, they will stand. Now, some will stand to cheer after their team scores, and some will stand to go to the concession or the restroom. But sometimes at very critical moments, they will stand in silent expectation.

The best place to experience that type of standing, in my opinion, is Knoxville, Tennessee, at Neyland Stadium. Having been to numerous Tennessee Volunteer football games there, I can assure you that whenever a big play is coming up, the crowd stands. Sure, if we all sat down we’d still see the play, but it’s the intensity of the moment that makes sitting no longer an option. We stand in anticipation of what is coming next.

I love the thought that Stephen’s actions caused the same reaction in Jesus. Here is a man who has served faithfully and is now standing boldly for his faith, and the last thing he sees before he’s martyred is His Savior standing. It was a sign of the moment’s passion and intensity, and it is a challenge to you and I. When was the last time we did something so faithful and courageous for the Kingdom of God that it would cause our Savior to stand to see?

How do we do that? I don’t think it was so much the dying that made Jesus stand as much as it was the bold witness of Stephen that caused Him to rise. I’ve got to believe that our testimony of who Jesus is to our culture will do the same, and perhaps today, as you faithfully share the faith you have in Christ with others who need Him, your Savior will stand to see you, too.