Are you okay with the name your parents gave you?  Did they put a lot of thought into it?  My dad and I have the same first names, so my mom called me by my middle name in order that we may know who she’s calling for. Some people hate their names, and others take steps to legally change it.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, added the “w” in his name in order to disassociate himself with his great great grandfather, who was a judge in the Salem witch trials.  What would it take for you to change your name?

The Scottish judge, Lord Jeffrey, said, “A good name, like good will, is got by many actions and lost by one.”  While your name may be quickly forgotten after death, it would seem that you would want it to be respected in this life. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches.”  Would you rather have the riches?

Does God care about your name?  Or is He more likely concerned with what you have made of your name? It seems that promoting your name by your achievements would have some pride in it.  Is it possible that, when people see us, God wants them to associate us with the name of Jesus?

Maybe you should Google your name and see what others think about you, if they think about you at all. Either way, God loves you, and your name is written in His Book of Life.  Isn’t it?

Evangelist John Wesley (18th century) had some suggestions.  In what later would be called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (1964) Wesley said that there are four areas in which we can learn of our Creator and what he wants from us:

SCRIPTURE – He was referring to the Bible.  The Old Testament makes the assumption that God gave out His information through the Jews.  The New Testament centers on God’s son, Jesus, who sacrificed His life for us.  Can we get any more from scripture than how to live our lives?  Is there a plan of salvation clearly outlined for us?

TRADITION – Wesley said that not only the writings of the church fathers, but religious traditions in place today should carry some weight in securing what we believe.  But what if the church fathers got it wrong?  Is it possible that the belief system of the masses could have some holes?

REASON – This one could be used on the other three.  Wesley saw reason as a way to correct interpretation of scripture or proper examination of religious teachings.  But what about “God’s ways are higher than our ways?”  Don’t we have to take a lot of things on faith, even though they don’t make sense?

EXPERIENCE – What is working for you?  Do you feel peace and freedom?  Are you secure in the destiny of your soul?  Then maybe it’s working for you.  But what if you’re wrong?

John Wesley fought for the free will of man working in conjunction with the leading of the Holy Spirit. He taught that these four tools must be used in balance, that over-emphasizing one would be detrimental to our spiritual growth.

Which one is the most important to you?  Can you balance them and come out alive?

There was a fellow being interviewed by Fox News today.  He is the national security advisor for the Christian Action Network.  Who are they, and what do they do?  Well, a former editor for Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority Report” started the CAN group.  His name is Martin Mawyer, and he said that the organization was “created to protect America’s religious and moral heritage.”

Does our religious heritage need preserving?  And how do you protect it?  I guess you could remind everyone over and over that we started out as a “Christian” nation, but there will always be those who will challenge that fact, because most of our forefathers believed substantially different things from what our Christian churches teach today.

And why do Christians need a national security advisor?  Don’t we have God? Won’t He protect us?  Or does He only help those who help themselves?  What about helping the helpless?

This group also promotes CPA’s.  No, not certified public accountants. Christian Political Activists. What do they do?  From what I’ve read their goal is to take over America for God.  That is, they want to put fundamentalist Christians in all levels of the government, so that all laws can be in complete alignment with God’s Word — the Bible.  I personally don’t see how you can get the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to agree on “Christian” laws.  Is it doable?

Neither Jesus (in the gospels) nor his followers (in the letters) seemed to advocate Christian political activism.  Why should we?  How about our daily walk with Christ?  How we relate to family and friends. How we relate to enemies.  Do we really need to pour our money and time into forcefully wrenching our government from the sinners?

Maybe we should pray about it.  What’s that?  We already did?  I wonder if God just isn’t into this movement.  Or maybe we didn’t get the answer we were looking for.  So it’s up to us.  Or is it?

He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake.  He knows when you’ve been bad or good.

Wait a minute, who are we talking about here?  Santa or Jesus?  They both seem to know all about you, no matter your age.  However, while Santa is known to deliver smiles, he also has a reputation of being somewhat drunk on a street corner, less than reliable to fulfill all wishes of the lap-sitters, and has been caught kissing Mommy underneath the mistletoe.

Jesus, on the other hand, can deliver lasting smiles, but is also expected to bring introspection, which can turn that smile upside down.  Go to any church Advent service, and you will see folks welcoming Him back each year — just like Santa.  Shouldn’t Jesus be here every day?  How many people just welcome Him once a year?

Millions of kids get lots of toys each year, but the baby in the manger probably didn’t even get a rattle. And it’s hard to play with gold, frankincense and myrrh.  What He did get, though, is the adoration of many generations to come.  But does our adoration quickly fade when the holiday hoopla is over?

God’s message of peace and love and righteousness could have been delivered by anyone.  But the correct and true message needed to come by way of his only Son.  He’s truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Merry Christmas

‘Tis the season to be giving — and receiving.  It’s also the time of year that the charity seekers constantly have their hands out.  Salvation Army bell ringers, Toys for Tots, the angel tree at church, along with several special Christmas offerings.  This activity particularly peaks at the holiday season.  Why?

You could say that they saved their campaigns for this time, rather than to hit us up for money all year long, but I don’t think so.  They play on the spirit of giving at Christmas.  How can you buy those wonderful presents and ignore the downtrodden who have nothing for Christmas?

So what happens when Christmas is over?  Aren’t the downtrodden still trodden down?  Is there a way that we can focus not on the Christmas band-aid, but on the progressive healing?  Or can our apathy only be worn down in December?

Jesus told his followers, “Freely you have received, freely give.”  Then he instructs them not to take any money with them.  Is it because he wants them to give of themselves?  Isn’t it easier to open the wallet than to open the heart?

Children will tear open boxes on Christmas morning, looking for the many things that they begged for.  Quite a few will be tired of the toys by the end of the day. God gave his best gift in Jesus.  How many of us will lose his message as we struggle on through life?

Maybe this year we should strive to be humble givers and gracious receivers, because we, ourselves, are gifts that don’t need to be wrapped.

Born in a manger (feed trough).  Born to a family that lived below poverty level in those days.  How well could you live on a carpenter’s wages?  So, why all of this attention to such a lowly birth?  The exceptionally bright star, that appeared to be moving, certainly would warrant a Fox News Alert.

Since he came from God, I wonder what the baby’s name was before Mary and Joseph called him Jesus. His earthly name meant “the LORD saves.”

Who came to see him?  We know for sure that some shepherds came because angels appeared to them. The only other visitors cited in the Bible are the magi.  They were either ancient priests with magical powers, or they were eastern astrologers.  With deference to most nativity sets, the shepherds seem to be the only ones who showed up at the birthing place.  The wise men, with all of their learning, couldn’t even plan their trip so that they could make it in time.  They were almost two years off on their arrival. How wise is that?

Thirty years later he would be sought by folks in all levels of society, from Roman commanders to tax collectors, with tons of ordinary people in between.  He was even visited by Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court.

Aren’t wise people, along with rich people, just self-made individuals who seek their own ends?  What kind of people need Jesus?  Do you have to be down-and-out to bring you to your knees before Him?  Is it difficult for a mature adult to bow before a baby at Christmas?

Francis Bacon said, “A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.”

I like bacon.

It’s here again.  Another year of singing, bustling, rushing, wrapping, cooking, baking, spending and celebrating.  Will you be glad when it’s over?

There’s the commercial Christmas, and there’s the spiritual Christmas.  These days, it’s difficult to separate the two in some churches.  Each year the season becomes a big production, in or out of church.  At a time when we are recognizing the arrival of the Prince of Peace, we appear anything but peaceful.  Is this what Jesus wanted?  Is God okay with how it turned out?

How do you reconcile Christ with today’s Christmas?  Do you tell your kids that there’s no Santa Clause, because it doesn’t fit in with your doctrine?  Our church has a miniature nativity set that has Santa kneeling before the manger. Do you spend too much money and buy presents for people that you’re not sure that you care about, only to make sure they don’t think that you’re too cheap?  I don’t think the Wise Men had that problem.

Do you spend too much money on kids who play with the toys for 3 minutes tops, then move on to TV or an old toy?  Is your Christmas table filled with small talk with friends or relatives that you can’t be honest with at other times?

Where’s the Christmas peace and joy?  Where’s the love of Christ when you get angry with the store clerk, or with the guy who just cut you off in traffic, or when no one appreciates all of the work you put into this holiday season?

Does it bother you when you’re told that the baby Jesus actually came to die for your sins?  Are you able to keep the frivolity separate from the Christian message of Christmas?

I love Christmas.  No humbug here.  But maybe we should take a serious look at how we address it.  Maybe we should ask Jesus what He thinks.  It’s his birthday.

Inspiration is the antithesis of apathy.  Action is preferable to inaction.  The spark within us is what makes life interesting.  It not only gives us hope, but puts feet on our faith.  So where does that spark come from?

Some would argue that it is all cause and effect.  We react to stimulus.  Someone begs us to do something, the weather is perfect for …, or a new revelation prompts us to share it with others.  Any number of sensual signals can start our inspirational engines.  Inspire is from the Latin, meaning “to breathe upon or into.”

The Bible says that “all Scripture is God-breathed.” (2 Timothy 3:16)  Does that mean just the Old Testament, since it was written in the New Testament?  Or do we Christians have the right to include the canonized Bible (both Testaments) as the God-breathed Word of God?  Is it really infallible?  If it’s truly inspired, could the men that wrote it have put their own spin on some things?

We are all created by God.  Our minds contain the seat of the soul, the very connection to Him.  So can’t we say, as George MacDonald writes, that “the inspiration of the Almighty alone gives understanding?”  Is all inspiration more or less a pay-it-forward from God?  That is, when we inspire others, isn’t it God (or God’s Spirit) inspiring us to inspire others, and so on?  Or can evil be inspired, either by Satan or selfish people?

I like the association of inspire to breathing.  Breathing is necessary to life.  So is inspiration.  Some people have good “breath,” and others have nasty “breath.”  What is our role in generating or receiving inspiration? Do we just let it happen?  I feel inspired to write these articles.  I constantly have thoughts and ideas going through my mind, but there are many times when I have to force myself to put them in writing.  So, am I just manufacturing inspiration, or am I just too lazy sometimes to harvest the fruit?

What — or who — inspires you?  I’d like to know.

Teach.  Or so the saying goes.  Meaning that people who can’t master their given field can always fall back on teaching about it.  I don’t believe it’s true.  At least I hope it’s not true.  But it may be true for some.  I would rather believe that teachers are called to teach.  That is, they have an inner desire to open minds to learning, and that they look forward to seeing students mature and become successful, knowing that they had a part in the process.

The Christian faith is much the same.  Where would we be without our teachers?  Sure, God uses the Bible, but wasn’t that written by teachers?  And are teachers always right?  Even if they’re not always right, do we dismiss them as teachers when they’re wrong sometimes?

Teachers, if they are any good, stimulate us to think.  Great teachers love questions.  But should the goal of a teacher be to make you think like he or she thinks?  Wouldn’t it be better to lead students to seek the truth, even if they’re not currently on the same page as the teacher?  Can Christian leaders trust God to eventually bring the student around to the truth, or must they force their truth into the students, they themselves being God’s instruments?

I wonder how much teachers of Christianity fear that they will be held accountable for the failure of their students to learn the real Truth.  (James 3:1)  Is it hard for teachers to be humble?  Do they see it as failure to admit that they don’t know an answer?  How much does pride play into the teaching equation?

Learning is a necessary part of our existence.  Teachers are necessary tools for the learning process. Some do it professionally.  But shouldn’t we all be ever learning, as well as ever teaching?

God is the great Teacher.  From Him all teaching flows.  What we do with it is up to us.

Or is it?

Many people find that doing things for those who ask is easier than following orders.  There’s something about the fact that when a person commands something (rather than suggesting), it makes them look superior.  But isn’t society always required to have leaders and followers?  Or could we ever realize a Utopian world, where imperative instruction is not necessary?

What about our relationship to God?  It seems that the only way we can really get to know Him is to obey. What does He ask of us?  Well, the ten commandments come to mind.  But they’re so negative — THOU SHALT NOT.  What does he ask us to do that’s positive?  Does he communicate to us outside of the Bible?

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, who would teach and convict us.  (John 14:26)  So, is that voice in your head the Holy Spirit, or is it just your conscience?  Or are they one and the same?  Do you ever get to think for yourself?  It’s obvious that you have the responsibility to act, no matter who is suggesting, encouraging or commanding.  Do we need to be absolutely sure of the truth before we follow?

It would be great to know what we ought to do, or ought not to do.  But I think what gets us into trouble is when we determine what others ought to do, or not do, and forcefully exhort them in that manner.  Both testaments of the Bible speak freely of righteousness, the act of doing right in the eyes of God.  Can we ever really know what is right?  Many Christian advisors say, “When in doubt, leave it out.”  Is that good advice?

So which is better?  To be the master or the servant?  Jesus, who is the Master, said it is better to be the servant.  The Apostle said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Corinthians 12:10)  Will that work in today’s world?