I Resolve To ......

Here it is the second week of a brand new year. I have purposely waited to publish this post until most new year resolutions have been broken. Or, are you one of those who valiantly keep your resolutions. 

Possibly you are one of those who make them so practical that they can be kept … “I resolve to spend less time exercising.” “I resolve to watch more TV.” Or, maybe, like me, you usually find them useless and therefore make none at all. After all, it is just a new calendar … nothing else.

Paul sent me a note with his take on this whole process:

“Some time ago, I became somewhat disillusioned with the whole resolution thing. I've found myself to be pitiful when it comes to meeting these long term, sweeping and really rather undefined and general promises for change.

Those who actually make change do not vow to do so, since that places such changes in the future, where they can be postponed continually - rather, such people (of whom I'm rather envious), simply change. They alter their behavior in small ways on a day to day basis.

However these changes have their limitation. Real consequential changes, changes of eternal value comes not from within us … they come from the Lord.

King Salomon said; "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3: 5-6) These words capture the essence of my resolution for 2012 perfectly: to trust the Lord in all things and pray for Him to reveal the next step in our journey. Can't wait to see all of the “good” things that He has in store for our family this year!”

As I struggled with the highs and lows of this past year … from the birth of my first great-granddaughter to the tragic end to three of my best friends, I am reminded that life is fragile, for newborns and for young men … for the middle aged and for seniors. Let us not let the mechanics of living out-weigh the compassion of living. And, remember that the fruit of our lives will always be representative of the god we follow.

I am making a resolution this year … one that I know the Lord will help me keep … one that I encourage all of you to make. I resolve  to love deeper, to care more fervently, to give more unselfishly and to savor every precious moment that the Good Lord gives me.

And, as Paul closed his note …

“Larry and I pray that the year 2012 is a great year for you, a year in which you will come to trust in the Lord and experience the blessing of His leading.”

Larry Abele – Editorial Team

Boxing Day - A Tradition That Needs To Be Revived

Boxing Day is traditionally a day following Christmas when wealthy people in the United Kingdom would give a box containing a gift to their servants. This tradition, dated from the Middle Ages, has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions. 

What should be the attitude of the Christ Followers toward the needy? 

Before offering our opinion, let us consider the strong scriptural basis for helping the poor: In the Old Testament, God gave the Israel specific guidelines for taking care of the poor. He commanded that the corners of fields were not to be harvested so that something would be left for the needy to eat (Lev. 19:9-10).

God also promised a special blessing to all who gave to the poor (Prov. 19:17), and judgment to those who oppressed the poor (Ps. 140:12). 

Robbing and cheating the poor were condemned (Hosea 12:7). Widows and orphans - who were especially vulnerable to oppression - came under special protection from the law (Exod. 22:22-23).

God - in the law - also made provisions for poor and foreigners who were not a part of Israel's theocracy. Gleanings from the harvest were to be left for them (Deut. 24:19-21), and they were ranked in the same category as widows and orphans as being defenseless (Ps. 94:6).

Jesus is very clear about our responsibility to the poor and oppressed. Christ's strong warning that eternal condemnation awaits those who do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners (Matt. 25:31-46) shows that the disadvantaged are not merely a peripheral concern of His. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus taught that anybody in need is our neighbor (Luke 10:29f.).

The biblical view of the poor and oppressed is such that God's people everywhere should be appalled at the poverty of the people in the world. 

In my opinion the Church of Jesus Christ must act to help relieve the suffering of the needy in our world. Now, as a new year approaches, would be a great time to start!

Paul Weresch

Cherie, Glenn and Christmas ...

These last couple weeks, just days before the celebration of Christmas, I have lost two close friends from my little Idaho community.

Cherie was a dear woman … a member of our church, a widow lady who loved gardening, loved her church, loved helping people, loved the small group she was in … and loved her God. She was 81 years old and apparently in good health. Returning from a meeting in the city where she was putting together Christmas wreaths, she had a massive heart attack and died instantly.

Cherie’s memorial service packed our little church and the atmosphere was full of love, warmth, memories … and hope.

But, the reason I felt compelled to write this was my good friend, Glenn. Glenn was my neighbor. He was a wonderful dad to his four children (with one more due in a few weeks), he was a hard worker, he was greatly interested in his family, the school and his community.

When I had an operation on my hand this last summer, Glenn made sure my lawn was mowed and was there for anything I couldn’t handle alone.

Glenn had a generic back problem that made it very difficult and painful to work … and work is scarce around this part of the country anyway. Glenn was worried that he couldn’t care for the family that he loved so much and made the decision that they would be better off without him.

He spent Sunday with his children, wrote each of them a letter and drove up the road for the last time. Glenn took his own life yesterday morning … leaving a family that he loved behind and breaking my heart. I have no idea what the service will be like or if they will have one … I just know I miss Glenn.

The difference between those two new stories for the Christmas season is HOPE!

Cherie and her family had hope in their hearts … hope that comes from knowing that there is life in the Lord … here, now and in the future.

Glenn had no hope … though he was a good man, he did not have the Lord to fall back on when the going got tough. He thought he had to do it all alone … he had no hope.

In this day and age our society struggles with the TRUE meaning of Christmas … much ink and paper has been wasted on the airing of theories for and against. But if one looks at the statistics about the heartbreak and agony that is unseen amidst the shopping, decorating, baking and partying, one will see that the great gift of the Christmas season that God gave to everyone who will accept it, is the gift of hope.

Without that gift, life can be tough, as it surely must have been for Glenn. But with it … we are offered the strength to make it … no matter what the circumstances might be. We just have to find it, open it and marvel in it.

If you haven’t opened the gift that Christ was born and died to give to you … personally … this is a great time to do it. Accept God’s gift this Christmas.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Larry Abele - Editorial Team