Xmas Party

We are having a Christmas Party starting at 5:00 in the fellowship hall of the FLC. Bring a 5 dollar with elephant gift to exchange.
BD

Christmas and Martyrdom

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”-John 15:18-20

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Sleigh bells jingling, cash registers cha-chingaling; the great holiday draws near. It is the time of year to throw caution and budget to the wind. Manger scenes and savings-magazines in dominance decorate this happily-stressed land. Family-friendly hymns of the season comfort the restless souls, searching eBay relentlessly for the latest editions of the very limited robo-dogs and newest generation iPods. Oh but how much more delightful it is to give than to receive when that gift outshines that of your neighbor.[1] ‘Tis the season to jubilantly trample your fellow man with eyes on the discount laptop prize, while Samaritan’s Purse’s merry bells jin-a-ling, begging for a penny to change the world.

My attitude-of-Christmas-past has been quite bah-humbug lately.[2] I have despised Christmas’ materialism (not that I profess to be above it), the quasi-pagan origins, Santa Claus, and the unbalanced focus on Christ’s birth versus His resurrection. My response in past years has been to despise Christmas. Americans spend roughly $450 billion dollars during the holiday season, and an average of $791 per person. Consumers spend $15.8 billion of that on ornamentation (unclean water is blamed for more deaths than anything else in the world, and it is estimated that the world’s water woes can be cured for a mere $10 billion, $5 billion less than Americans spend on rooftop Rudophs and enormous Frosty Snow-globes).[3] This year however, things are a little different. God has adjusted my bah-humbug-do-nothingness into something a little more useful.

This year’s holiday woes have been more purposeful. I have been burdened to consider and pray for the saints around the world, particular those saints who are currently or have recently faced intense persecution. While Westerners gather ‘round the fire to roast chestnuts and sing cheery tunes of Christmas trees and merry bells ringing; Christians in China, India, Indonesia, North Korea, etc hide out in new-school catacombs lest they be forced to recant or die. Three weeks ago, in Nigeria, violence against Christians resulted in 100 dead. While Americans sip Eggnog and delightfully sift through festively-wrapped presents, sixty-nine Indonesian Christian families will spend Christmas homeless after their houses were destroyed by angered Muslims on Monday (December 15th, 2008). Countless other Christians face starvation and famine. Many will spend this Christmas season enduring harsh floggings by angry kidnappers rather than making known the meeting locations of their brothers and sisters. Several Christians will choose martyrdom, rather than deny Christ and recant their faith next week. In fact, while you’re unwrapping that iPod there is a reasonable chance that at least one Christian in China has a gun to his or her head. And on the 26th, when you go to the store to return that hideous sweater/scarf/etc. there is some young boy or girl being forced to watch his parents hang because he or she will not deny Christ. Why? A slave is not greater than his master. Followers of Christ will indeed suffer with Christ, for joy’s sake to the glory of God.

My request: Pray for the persecuted. Pray for the famished. Pray for the displaced. Pray for your family, your brothers and sisters across the globe, suffering for the sake of Christ. Pray that God will be glorified, and they will know His rest. Pray that their persecution will result in the spread of God’s fame to the nations. And pray for the church in the West that she will be purged of her materialism and embrace glorious joy in Christ alone.[4] Pray that when persecution comes to the Western church, that she will embrace it graciously and willingly knowing that a slave is indeed no greater than his master.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”-Hebrews 12:1-2

Truly have a Merry Christmas, remembering the glory of God.

Post by gbuff, who echoes props for Shai Linne's "Penelope Judd." Shai Linne is a poet.

[1] Elizabeth Ladd is credited for the completion this sentence
[2] This is a rather lame allusion to Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
[3] Check out http://www.adventconspiracy.com/
[4] This is what our brothers and sisters are praying for us.

Shake Off the Dust (Part 2)

I second what BD said about Monday night being a blessing.  Our group had more of an encouraging evening (no professing Christians told us they did not want to talk about Christ around Christmas), but all in all there were more no answers than anything else. Hopefully we can revisit them next week.

   We spoke to one man who said that Christ was his savior, and when asked what he had been saved from, he couldn't answer. He then said that he did not think faith was something to be shared but appreciated what we were doing. He then said that what he had just said did not sound right (having a faith and not sharing it, sounds ridiculous when actually spoken), but that is just how he felt. I could see wheels turning while on the porch, so though the gospel was not well received, a tract was given and the conversation was respectful. I think seed was planted, and the Lord can give the growth.

    We then spoke to a deacon from a local baptist church in Wendell, and that was truly a blessing. He did tell us about other neighbors that attend his church, and you can read the report on one of them in BD's Part 1 of this article 2 posts down.  This gentleman was great though, a born again believer who came to know the Lord about 6 years ago. He prayed for us and our visits and for the Lord to go before us... to my knowledge this is the first time we've had someone pray for us and us not pray as well.

     These are the extremes we can range from on Monday nights, and we encourage others to come out with us. We had 8 people in all go out, 1 off of our all time record. It was great though. The first visit I wrote about is what I fear the bulk of our community believes. They know the answers to questions, and have been thoroughly "churched", but when you get down to the root of the faith, you come up empty. People have a knowledge of who Christ is, but do not know Christ.  They need to know Christ as God, Savior, and King, and they can only know if they are told. They must know they are sinners, and have angered a holy God, but that God has offered redemption by the blood of His Son, the Christ who lived perfectly and has died for our sins. This is not a popular view, and people may hate us for it. But if we know this and do not share it, that is pure hatred toward the very people we are not sharing it with. That is all, and that is our sole purpose of living. To love God, and live to glorify Him, and desire to see others come and share in this fantastic Life God has given to us. Grace and Peace.

    Also, No Bible study this Wednesday night. We will have church wide Christmas Caroling at 6:30 pm, followed by our annual chili and soup dinner. By all means, come out and join us! 

Storiez and Acoustic Storytime

If some of you are looking for a good CD, then I have two recommendations for you. The first CD that I would recommend is Storiez by Shai Linne. You can get this on iTunes. It is one of the most spiritually encouraging/ challenging CDs that I have ever listened to. The musician tells stories through the eyes of all kinds of people. Two songs stick out to me. First, Penelope Judd which is what Bubba calls, “The Pilgrim’s Progess in three minutes” and it is truly a blessing. The other song that sticks out is Martyrs which tells the story of several different Christian martyrs. It will bring you to tears, the good kind.

The other CD is Acoustic Storytime by Jason Gray. This is the exact opposite musically, but spiritually it is just as encouraging. The CD is interlaced with testimony and exhortation. It is a must have. This is also on iTunes.

BD

Shake off the Dust (Monday Night Evangelism Part 1)

Thank all of you who went out last night. It was truly a blessing as it always is. I there really is no where I would rather be on Monday nights than going door to door. We had 8 last night that showed up for the fun and festivities. We visited the streets around another Baptist church in Wendell. We met some really interesting people. It seems like we had about as many positive responses as negative. The negative responses are always interesting, and especially when some houses scream “Merry Christmas” and the residents seem to say, “Bah, humbug.”

 

We had one guy that refused to answer any questions, but didn’t protest to our asking them. He finally said, “I have a lot of thoughts about that, but I don’t want to talk to you about them.” The sad thing is that he did tell us he went to a local Baptist church. We had four other people who gave faith responses to questions about their faith. We prayed with three of them and they did seem encouraged by our efforts. We prayed with one about physical problems. We prayed with another about her son going off to Iraq. We prayed with another about him “in general.”

 

The last two houses we visited could find no room for the gospel. At the largest house on the street, a woman came to the door and after we introduced ourselves she slammed the door on us. At the last house, a man went out the side door while we were knocking on the front door and just starred at us and yelled, “Hey.” Not the “hey” that you would yell to a friend, but the one that parents yell at kids with their hands in the cookie jar. We introduced ourselves and the man scorned us for knocking on his door. He said, “I have a two year old, that I am trying to put to bed, and two others in there.” He gave us the angry stare, then we offered him some literature. He “politely” declined and went back into the house. We prayed as we left that the Lord would convict him of his sin, and that the Lord would draw that man to himself. I was just convinced even more of the fact that salvation is a work of God, and God alone. If it were up to us, we would never seek the Lord. Praise God that he sought us, and redeemed us by the blood of his son.

 

BD

Sunday (December 14, 2008)

With many of our college students in town and not overworked with exams and papers and everything else right now, my hope is that the Editors and Writers of the YAM blog will be able to write more often, and that people will have more time to read the things we have posted.  If you are reading this, you are helping the cause, keep up the good work, and encourage others to join in on the daily (or at least weekly) reading of the blog. Easier accessibility through Facebook soon to come, possibly. 

For those of you who missed Sunday, it was a good time of fellowship. I hear that service was pretty good (my excuse for missing this week was legitimate, as I had to drive someone to the airport at 10) and that Pastor spoke at least in part out of Luke 6. 

In announcements, we have successfully raised money for an ipod for Katie's "adopt a family" project. Thank you to all who were involved in the giving, and hopefully that family will be blessed this year, and glorify the Lord by praising Him or coming to know Him through that work.  Also, many supplies have been given for the VSP class (special needs ministry) and some money has been donated as well... but this class is a year round ministry and any further help will certainly be appreciated.  There is a list on one of the postings below this one of needed supplies. Gift cards to Michaels, Wal Mart, and Target (or cash, if necessary) are all acceptable too. Any other ideas, let me know and we can probably make it happen.  Also, check the blog (already addressed earlier). 

There was a Christmas party for the YAM Ladies and the up and coming Juniors and Seniors this past Saturday (as an attempt to bridge the transition from Youth to YA/College). There were 4 girls from youth to come, and I understand that was a blessing. 

Our Christmas party is this Saturday at 5 pm in the fellowship hall at HBC. Bring a white elephant gift (if you need clarification, contact somebody. basically, a cheap cool gift that could be useful, either for life or laughter).

Finally,  our Bible lesson was taught by Scott in Matthew 18:15 and following. This was in the Men's class, Im not really sure where the women are studying right now, but they got out of class later than we did, so I am certain it was a good lesson. There was great discussion (which is fantastic, considering that sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get us to get relevant conversation going during a lesson!), and we talked about church discipline, actions to take when you see a brother or sister living an unrepentant life in sin, and our need for unity, love, and accountability with everyone in the Church, not just our closest friends and people in our Sunday School classes. 

In one last plug, we would love to have help on Monday Night Visitation, as we do not plan to take any breaks between now and New Year's, so if possible plan to meet us in the gravel parking lot at 6:45 on Mondays. You can contact me, Coop, Gary, or Bobby (or anyone that you know and associate with Monday Nights, I just know these people give out phone numbers like they are candies. And candy is a good thing). We will be starting a new area/neighborhood tonight, so at very least your prayers are welcome. We could definitely use the help of any ladies with free Monday nights, just with us being a group predominately made up of men, it can look intimidating to a woman at home by herself if she sees only men on her porch. At very least, your prayers are welcome as we search the Lord's guidance for tonight. Be praying for the saints in our ministry, as many of us are struggling with burdens, family, sin and many other things. When any part of our body struggles, we all suffer and are affected. Grace and Peace - Bubba