My Favorite Part of Christmas

Everyone loves something different about Christmas.

For some of us, it is the lights and decorated trees, the wrapping paper and copious amounts of sugar-laced treats.

For others, it is the music, the snow on the ground, the caroling and the festive shindigs that are thrown.

Some people might enjoy that their grouchy neighbor actually smiles during December, and still others enjoy that it is a season of giving.

And then of course we all know the radical Christmas people. 

They have wanted it to be Christmas since last Christmas and have been listening to festive music since way before  Thanksgiving. 

Personally, I'm not a huge Christmas season fanatic. But there are three things I really love about it. 

#3 The Gift Giving

I don't know what it is, but there is something really awesome about giving gifts. I will be honest, my gifts are never gifts that cost a lot or necessarily even look nice. I think it is more about the thought that goes into it. Gifts involve inside jokes, memories of the past, and the occasional practical joke. A good example of this comes at my own expense.

It was during my middle school years (that excuses everything right?)  and what I really really wanted for Christmas was a iPod touch. I had told my parents at least 400 times, and I was so ready to unwrap it.

As we opened our presents, the pile under the tree dwindled away. I received my final present, and let's just say it was shaped nothing like an iPod. Brokenhearted, I unwrapped.....a ceramic bowl. For the record it was a nice ceramic bowl, but all I wanted to do right then was break it... a lot.

My selfish little tears on the verge of spilling out I took the bow and ran up to my room. It was then I noticed the box attached to the bottom of the ceramic bowl. 

Several minutes later a very humble middle school Josh walked down into the living room with his new iPod to be shamed by laughter.

God put some thought into his gift too. Thousands of years of thought actually. He did it in a way no one expected. It was almost a practical joke. The King of Kings born to a poor virgin in a stable and then rules with love.

I love gifts.

#2 Family Time

Even more than most holidays, the family seems to really pull together during Christmas. This year my brother went a little far will the whole concept and decided to pull in a fiancee. Not to rant or anything but the whole wedding thing is really harshing my mellow this winter season. Forcing cutbacks on presents and making us celebrate Christmas early. Baa Humbug. 

Totally kidding, I think Drew wins best Christmas present this year hands down. 

The family is one of God's best gifts. Our family hasn't always been the closest I'll admit. But as God has brought restoration and healing, I get more and more excited about family. 

Dear Reader, I don't know your family situation. But what I do know is that God can take the most broken situations and turn them into something beautiful. From divorce to death, from abuse to alcohol. Jesus can redeem your family. Out of the ashes of our mess, God can create beauty. We tried to fix it on our own for a long time. No one wants to be broken. But our sin is too much for us to heal, it is too heavy a load for us to carry.

This Christmas, turn your broken situation over to God. He kinda rocks at the whole family thing.

#1 My Favorite Part of Christmas is

That it isn't about us.

Every year at the Christmas church service, we usually hear the story of Christ's birth. But my favorite part of the story gets skipped every time. Matthew 1 starts with a long list of names, you know, the kind you always skip over when reading. It is Jesus' family tree. 

I challenge you to read it again. But for the slackers, I will point out some names that struck me and their...accomplishments.

Tamar- slept with her father-in-law

Rahab- prostitute

David- slept with a guy's wife, then murdered the guy and married the wife.

To me this just really speaks to the heart of God. If I was picking out a bloodline for the Son of God, you would be reading about big burly men of God and each generations Miss Israel. But thankfully, I wasn't picking.
This Christmas, some of you probably feel pretty flawed. And I will be honest so do I. I am not the ultimate man, the ultimate Christian, or the ultimate anything for that matter. My past isn't pretty, and my present isn't exactly beautiful either. I often don't feel like I am worth a whole lot, least of all the Son of God.

You may feel too broken to come to Jesus, and I have been there too. We might not make anyone's All-Christian team, and in the eyes of the world, you might be too dumb, too fat, too weak, too flawed, and too worthless to amount to much. But this story just shows how much differently God thinks than us.

God used some pretty broken people to give us a Savior. He used a family tree much like our own- full of pain, sin, and flaws. 

So this Christmas, remember that God so loved the world, that he gave (GIFTS!!) his only Son. That whoever, yea that means broken  me and you, believes in him would not perish but have eternal life.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Josh

What Are You Worth?

Lately,

this question has just been everywhere for me. I mean how can you really escape it?

Everything in this life is worth something. From gold and gas to stocks and funds, everything has a price tag associated with it. Naturally the question is,"What is on my price tag?"

Now I don't know about you, but I'll be honest. When I look at the world I see a lot of people who seem to be worth a lot more than me. Whether it's that brother over there who has more money in a week than I'll see in the next 10 years, or the friend who seems to have his relationship with Jesus way more figured out than me.

The list just keeps growing.

He's more attractive, he's wealthier, they're more passionate, they're less broken. I'm more scared, I'm less faithful, I'm less WORTHY.  Yea thoughts like that creep into my mind. Yea I find myself comparing myself to others more than I like to admit. But you know recently Jesus has been doing a remodel in the "worth room" of my heart. 

It all started when I realized...

It's okay, to not be okay. On top of that, I had to stop looking to people and society to find my worth, and look for my price tag in the Bible. That's when God laid Luke 15 on my heart. To summarize, Jesus tells three stories. In the first, a shepherd loses one of his 100 sheep. He proceeds to leave the 99 sheep, find the lost sheep, and then throw a party (worth WAY more than one sheep). In the second story, a woman loses one of her ten coins. She trashes her home, looking everywhere, finds the one coin, and throws a party (which would also cost WAY more than 1 coin). The third story is that of the Prodigal Son. You probably know it and are also catching on to the theme (a party worth WAY more than ____ ).

You see I don't think God is on the US dollar,

or any monetary system for that matter. To us it makes no sense that someone would spend time, effort, and money on something that is lost. That's when God told me "That's what you are worth to me Josh." And man I cannot wait for heaven because the way I read the bible I am expecting a party :) 

As I continued to learn about worth, I wrote a poem. It pretty much sums up everything I have learned. Me and Caleb P. recorded it, and set it to some musical magic, and yea if you want to check it out here is the link to download and listen:  What Are You Worth? 

Conclusion:

You are worth everything to God. He sent his son to save you and me. No one, and nothing can change that.

I still struggle with comparing myself to others. I still sometimes try to give myself a value I can put a number on. I need your prayers, and I think we all do. This world rips at our worth and results in some awful things: depression, anger, suicide. Let's keep our worth grounded in truth church.

Much love from a child of God,

Josh