Pretty amazing words from Penn (of Penn & Teller fame)... though he looks freaky in this video!

Musica Vera Concert (Janna's Early Music ensemble)

God moves in

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

Camping is a good way to get to know people. When I was growing up my family would go on a camping trip a couple times a year. This meant that instead of five people trying to coexist in one house, we now were crammed into one big canvas tent. You get to know your family (if against your will) in those circumstances.

We would go to "Sandsprit Park" in Stuart, Florida, in the heat of summer, at the height of mosquito season, in a canvas tent. It was a public park (still is – in fact the pictures I googled look like a serious upgrade from what I remember!). And being a public park we learned a lot about the other campers, especially the drunken fishing buddies two campsites down! But you learn about the nice ones too – the lady who shares some charcoal with you, the family making s'mores for anyone who walks by, the retired couple fishing off the seawall who show you how to bait a hook properly. You can't hide things from other campers like you can in your neighborhood back home.

So when God wanted to reveal himself to lost mankind, He chose the closest of human proximities – he pitched a tent.

When the Apostle John says "dwelt among us", the word "dwelt" is the same as the word for "tent". John's readers would have recognized the reference immediately: the Old Testament Tabernacle (literally "tent") – where God dwelt among his people! In the Old Testament when God wanted to draw close to His people he pitched a tent.

But when God want to reveal himself to a lost and dying world in the ultimate way, He "tabernacled among us" in His Son, Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God dwells among us in a personal way!

And, unlike our neighbors, this neighbor is glorious!

" ..and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Glory is a pretty awesome thing. When glory comes down people fall on their faces, shield their eyes, and fear for their lives. Glory is nothing less than the visible manifestation of God!

And John is telling us that Jesus is the true glory of God! Pretty stunning truth about a kid from Bethlehem. And yet there it is – the glory of God, in human form, camping next door. And all this for us. Like the Nicene Creed says, "Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven". "For us"?! That's grace! (And truth!)

So this season think about this: God has drawn near to us - will you draw near to Him?

The well wisher of your soul's happiness,

Pastor Tom

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The Measure of Our Growth and Decay
http://firstimportance.org/2008/12/14/the-measure-of-our-growth-and-decay/

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Advent Longing…

The calendar for the traditional church year begins, not with January 1^st, but with Advent. Advent is a time to get simple, get quiet, and stir up a longing for Christ's 2^nd Coming. Only recent history starts the frantic rush of the "Christmas Season" the day after Thanksgiving. No, advent is actually a "mini Lent" intended to strip our souls of acquired excess and prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. We stir up that longing by reading the prophets and other Bible passages that point us to Christ's return.

Last week I was meditating on the traditional reading for the day from the Daily Office of the Book of Common Prayer - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words"

As I meditated on these verses, I was nurturing a hunger and desire to see Christ face to face. I was reflecting on the amazing thought that one day I will really see Jesus with my own two eyes! I was forcing myself to slow down and move deeper in my relationship with my Savior, because at the time I was feeling the pressure to prepare a message about Jesus for our church!

Then I realized the danger of knowing correct doctrine about Jesus, but failing to press in to know the person of Jesus. The core of our faith is not a dogma, it's a person. I can know right truth about Christ and communicate right truth about Christ. And I must. But I want my knowledge to feed a relationship.

I don't want to "meet the Lord in the air" like a blind date! I don't want to say, "Oh, you're the person I've talked so much about! Glad to finally meet you!" I want to meet Jesus like someone who has been talking on the phone with a friend, only to see him drive up in the driveway! It's not a new relationship, but it's so much more immediate.

Yes, I realize that now we walk by faith and not by sight. And I know that the return of Christ will take that relationship to a whole new level. But I want to spend my Advent getting quiet, getting simple, and stirring up a deeper longing for my Lord!

The well wisher of your soul's happiness,

Pastor Tom

Stephen's Pictures

Stephen was practicing candel light photography with the digital camera, so I took a couple shots myself!

The Wonder of the Incarnation

The Apostle's Creed tells us that our God is "Maker of Heaven and Earth". This can be demonstrated with undeniable scientific precision by performing the intricate experiment of walking outside. God's glory is demonstrated in all He has made. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see God's creative, caring, and revealing hand. His fingerprints are everywhere! As Paul stated,

"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." (Romans 1:20).

Yet we also see fallenness in creation. When sin entered God's good world, everything went askew. We are now alienated from our creator, our neighbor, ourselves, and even creation itself (Rom 8:21-22). That explains the homesickness in the center of our souls. As G.K. Chesterton said:

"For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay on their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done."
(From "The House of Christmas")

But God has not abandoned his fallen creation. He send His Son on a rescue mission to reclaim creation and restore all that was lost in the fall. The wonder of the incarnation is that to reclaim creation, Christ became a part of creation. The Creator is created, the Maker is made! Truly we have no response to this overwhelming truth other than flat-out mind-bending awe and face-to-the-floor worship!

So take these words by Christopher Smart (1722-1771) and reclaim the wonder of Christmas:

Where is this stupendous stranger?
Prophets, shepherds, kings, advise.
Lead me to my Master's manger,
show me where my Savior lies.
O Most Mighty! O Most Holy!
Far beyond the seraph's thought:
art thou then so weak and lowly
as unheeded prophets taught?

O the magnitude of meekness!
Worth from worth immortal sprung;
O the strength of infant weakness,
if eternal is so young!
God all-bounteous, all-creative,
whom no ills from good dissuade,
is incarnate, and a native
of the very world he made.