It happened again just the other day. A preacher I know began talking about being called to ministry. He spoke of feeling God’s call upon his life. In some ways his speech was inspiring and challenging. Personally, it led me to quiet reflection about my own life.

I think I understand his idea of being “called” to ministry. The prophets were the spokespeople for God in the Old Testament and they often had an angel show up and call them out of their normal work into proclamation for God. In the New Testament Jesus personally invites his disciples to follow him or he calls them into discipleship. There are several references in the New Testament to someone being “called” by God but they are really about people accepting Jesus as their Savior and not a call to a particular ministry. The closest we may have in the Bible is a story in Acts 16 of a dream Paul has of a man from Macedonia calling him to come over and preach the gospel. Honestly, after years of searching I have not found a story or passage that speaks of someone being called to ministry. I suppose the idea continues to circulate because it somehow makes preachers feel special or closer to God.

I tell you this because I have never personally felt called to ministry. I have not heard any voices speaking to me from the heavens. I have never had a prophetic dream or seen an angel. At no point in my life have I ever felt special or specially gifted to be a preacher.

Instead, when I became a Christian at the age of 8 I committed myself to following God wherever he wanted me to go. Once again I did not hear a voice saying go this way or that. Usually God spoke to me through open doors of opportunity. Many times my life has been the simple result of choosing the path of least resistance. For starters, I thought Bible College would be easy. I had no intention of becoming a preacher. Yet while in Bible College a friend asked me to preach on Sunday. I couldn’t come up with a good reason to say no to him. After the sermon a woman encouraged me with some very kind words so I decided to try again. Once again I had some positive feedback so I decided to preach again. This went on for about a year. By my third year in college I found I could make money on weekends preaching and it paid better than working at a fast food chain. Since people seemed to enjoy my sermons I made it my job. Pitiful story for a preacher, I know.

Since I decided to become a preacher I have tried to quit a few times. I was going to take an office job somewhere. I could get involved in manual labor and leave people in the church behind. Every time I tried there were no job offers. No one wanted to hire me. There were never any doors to go anywhere else. In time I decided this is what God wants me to do until someone offers me somewhere else to go or something else to do.

I see my story not as some sad failure to be a special man of God. I see my story as an opportunity for anyone and everyone to follow God. You do not need to hear voices to become a preacher. You do not need a special invitation to teach a class. You do not need an angel to show up in your life to serve the Lord. All you need to do is simply follow his leading through open doors of opportunity. I never set out to be a preacher, but God has taken me on an incredible journey of faith. Honestly, I think he wants to do the same with all of us.

My earliest recollections of television are of watching Indiana University basketball. I have watched more hours of basketball than anything else on TV. Growing up in Indiana we did not have a pro football team to watch. The Colts did not move to Indy until 1984 and then they were terrible. Over time my interests changed and I became a football fan, especially as my boys began to grow and they took an interest in it. It is safe to say that I have watched thousands of hours of football and basketball through my life.

Each of these sports is built on the production of a team. While a team may have an all-star or two they depend on a number of people filling roles to make a team successful. Some players are specialists who only do one thing like kick a field goal. Some positions are more general in nature like the sixth man in basketball. Everyone has a role and everyone is important to the end result. In fact, it is rare to see a team become a champion with only one great player. Even the great Michael Jordan walked off the court one time after a loss and said to the camera, “I can’t do it alone.”

I tell you all of this because I am convinced the same thing is true of a Church. The Church is a team. Each and every part is important and helps the success of the whole. A great preacher is a huge asset to a Church but his success will be limited if he is the only one trying to score. The Church needs people to greet and be friendly. It needs nursery workers and people to teach children. It needs people to clean and do maintenance on the building. The Church needs people to visit the sick and elderly. It needs leaders to make decisions and serve selflessly. The Church needs people to serve in dozens of areas to have any success in reaching the lost for God. It needs people willing to reach out and share if they hope to develop people in their faith. Every person has a part and every part is important.

So today I ask a simple question, “What is your contribution to team Church?”

What role do you fill? How are you helping the Church reach its goals? What are you doing for God through the local Church that is furthering His kingdom?

A high school basketball teammate used to say “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Don’t be that weak link.” A little cheesy and trite expression, but it is still true, in sports and in Church.

This past Sunday I took a day of vacation. We had decided to travel as a family but bad weather and school sports changed our plans. As a result we were home on Sunday morning. After some conversation, my wife and I decided to take our family to visit a large Church in our area. After some searching we found a Church of our brotherhood a little over an hour away in Blue Springs Missouri that averages over 1000 people in worship. We agreed that this would be the place for us on Sunday morning to worship the Lord.

I like visiting other Churches a couple of times a year for a few reasons. One, I like to worship the Lord without the pressure of being a preacher. When I attend a smaller Church the people are usually very friendly, but once they find out that I am a preacher the dynamic changes. Sometimes it can turn into a consulting visit rather than worship. Two, I like to see what other churches are doing. I like to hear their music, their preaching and the way they handle everything. I am especially interested in Churches that are reaching lost people and how they reach out through their program. Finally, I like to remember what it is like to be a visitor to a new location. Many of us, myself included, have attended one Church so long we forget what it is like to be new and not know anything about what is going on.

That last concept is the point of today’s blogs. I wrote down several lessons that long time Church attendees need to remember about people visiting their Church.

1. A Great Website is a Must. As I looked at Churches to attend, I quickly made judgments about the Churches based on their website. An old looking or outdated site told me something. At ACC where I serve over 200 people visit our site each week. What judgements are they making?

2. Signage is Crucial. Where do I park? Does it matter? Where do I enter? Where is the worship area? Where are the restrooms? Show me please.

3. People are Powerful. A single person saying hello is scary yet personal. Someone asking if I need help in a friendly manner is inviting. Be open to visitors and help them without being pushy or angry.

4. The PowerPoint Person is the Most Powerful Person in the Church. I used to say that greeters and nursery workers had the greatest impact. Those have slid to number 2 and 3 on my list. Announcements on the screen, a countdown clock, song lyrics, videos, and anything else on the screen is controlled by one person or a small group. They can make or break a Church. Thank, hug and tip your PowerPoint people regularly. Seriously.

5. Explain, Explain, Explain. I know that people who attend regularly get tired of hearing the same old lines – But don’t stop doing it. I need to know when to stand and sit. I need to know what happens at communion. I need to know everything since I have no past experiences with this group.

All in all we had a good visit on Sunday. My pen was working and my mind was working even faster. I had some great take-aways while being a part of worship. The high school minister spoke while the preaching minister was on vacation. I can only assume he was off at another Church doing the same thing I was doing. I pray both of our Churches are the better for it.

The past week I have been enjoying some down time with my family. No sermons to write, no lessons to prepare and no Church related work was my goal. With that said, a break like this gives me time to reflect on my life and my personal journey with God. The longer I have thought about the past year of my life I have focused my attention on one big lesson God taught me. That is simply the power of prayer.

In the past 12 months I have prayed for situations ranging from my father’s recovery to the growth of our Church. With each issue that comes up God handles the matter better than I ever dreamed. One of the most dramatic answers to prayer was when our elders prayed for a leader and his relationship with his daughter. God used a series of unpredictable events to bridge the gap in their lives and make their relationship healthy again. I could literally spend pages writing about prayer and all that God has done as its result this year.

To top it off one of the final movies my family watched in 2015 is called “The War Room” and it is all about prayer, especially praying for your spouse. It was like God took out a highlighter and drew across the word prayer and said, “Don’t forget this.”

While 2015 drew my attention to prayer and its power it also set me up to grow in my prayer life in 2016. So this year I am going to attempt to get better at prayer. Here are some of the things I am trying to do this year.

1. Pray Daily. I want it to be one of the first things I do every day.

2. Pray more often. One of my leaders says, “I don’t pray a long time, but I pray often.” That is not bad advice.

3. Expand my time of prayer. When I do pray, I do not want to be on a tight schedule.

4. Expand my circle of prayer. I also tend to pray for my family and my ministry and my needs. I need to expand my prayers to include other people in my life. The prayer of Jesus that we call “The Lord’s prayer” in Matthew 6 has plural pronouns. Prayer is not selfish.

5. Keep better track of prayers. I have downloaded an app. If that doesn’t work I am thinking of a notebook and pen. Just simple tools to keep me focused on topics of prayer. That way I can be remind of all the needs that require prayer and possibly how God is answering them.

I know those are simple ideas that are not very original, but they are my goal for 2016. If 2015 taught me the power of prayer, I hope 2016 will be the year of increased prayer.

I am taking this week off to celebrate the New Year and my anniversary.

Thanks for reading in 2015. Thanks for your support of my ministry.

May God bless you this week and as we head into the new year. Have a safe and happy week.

I will be back to blogging next Tuesday January 5, 2016.

I wish everyone who reads my blog a Merry Christmas.

Dr. Robert Lowery wrote this several years ago. He was a mentor, teacher and friend who went home to be with the Lord about 4 years ago. I share this piece of his work as the final part to my sermon series on the Nativity Set. It is a longer article but I hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas.

The Christmas story occupies approximately thirty-one verses in Matthew whereas Luke’s devotes seventy-four verses. Because of these verses people have constructed pageants and plays and have composed carols and cards. Poets and preachers along with artists and authors, ancient and modern, continue to stir our hearts.

Many of us have heard the stories of Matthew and Luke so often that perhaps we have become numb to their beauty. On the one hand, perhaps the story needs to be rescued from either the contempt of so-called biblical experts who deny the reliability of Scripture. And on the other hand, perhaps the story needs to be rescued from the sentimentality of people who either follow Jesus or barely know of him.

Year after year, decade after decade, and century after century, the same cast members have been assembled each December: sleepy shepherds and wandering sheep; a wandering star and exotic (three!) wise men; blaring trumpets and singing angels; an expectant mother and waiting husband. This year children of all ages will march across the stage and act out their parts. The same cast members are found in our carols and are beautifully portrayed on cards.

But one little word unites these images and individuals. It is often over-looked and omitted from the newer translations. And yet it appears six times each in Matthew’s and Luke’s renditions: Behold!

It serves as either a word of comfort or challenge, exhorting us to lift up our eyes and see the world from a different perspective or encouraging us in hard times.

Consider the following:
When Mary is told that she is to give birth to God’s Son, she responds: “Behold! the Lord’s servant” (Luke 1:38).*

A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived in order to share the good news. And we are told that Elizabeth’s baby leaped within her and she shared with Mary: “Behold! when you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice!” (Luke 1:44). And Mary responded by singing: “Behold! . . . now generation after generation will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48)

When Joseph found out about Mary’s condition, he was ready to divorce her. But before he could do so “Behold! an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, telling him not to be afraid” but that the baby had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 1:20). And in that same dream he is told: “Behold! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning, God is with us)” (Matt. 1:23).

And on the night of that great birth, the angel of the Lord reassured the frightened shepherds: “Behold! I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!” (Luke 2:10)

Eight days later, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus journeyed to the temple and Luke catches our attention: “Behold! There was a man named Simeon who lived in Jerusalem. He was a righteous man and very devout. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he eagerly expected the Messiah to come and rescue Israel” (Luke 2:25). And upon taking the baby in his arms he begins to praise God, thanking him for the Savior of the world and near the end he turns to Mary and says: “Behold! This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others” (Luke 2:34).

In Matthew 2:1 there is the dramatic appearance: “Behold!” some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, inquiring about the newborn king. How did they know where to go? “Behold! the star appeared to them, guiding them to Bethlehem” (Matt. 2:9).

One more time, the word is used with the angel of the Lord, when we read: “Behold! an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph” in still another dream, this time he was instructed to flee with Mary and the baby to Egypt because of the danger faced by the family. And the same angel appeared once again: “Behold!” this time with the command to return to Israel because Herod was now dead (Matt. 2:19).

Behold! It is one of the most important words in the Christmas story. In reading through the above verses do you catch the sense of challenge or comfort? The word beckons us to sit up and take notice, to cease looking down and around and instead cast our eyes to the heavens, to the God who reigns and the Lamb who redeems.

John the apostle does not refer to the Christmas story in the opening pages of his gospel. But it is in another book that John celebrates Christmas, albeit in a most peculiar setting, as a prisoner on the desolate island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9), just off the coast of Asia Minor, nearly a hundred years after the first Christmas. John’s nativity is described in a mere five verses.

Consider John’s unique telling of the Christmas story as recorded in Revelation 12:1-5:
Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance.
I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with moon beneath her feet,
and a crown of twelve starts on her head. She was pregnant, and
she cried out in the pain of labor as she awaited her delivery.
Suddenly, I witnessed in heaven another significant event. Behold!
I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven
crowns on his heads. His tail dragged down one-third of the stars,
which he threw to the earth. He stood before the woman as she
was about to give birth to her child, ready to devour the baby
as soon as it was born. She gave birth to a boy who was to
rule all nations with an iron rod. And the child was snatched
away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne.

Contrary to many who believe that Revelation should be interpreted literally John himself calls this brief story a portent or sign, not a literal account. On the basis of the Old Testament symbols for the tribes of Israel (12:1-2), we can identify the woman as Israel, God’s people. The child who is to rule all the nations is obviously Christ. And the dragon, we know, is Satan (cf. 12:9), who was unable to destroy Christ during his earthly life.

In essence, what we have here is Christmas on Patmos, a Christmas with no shepherds or sheep, no carols or wise men. Not even Joseph is present. John’s nativity set, if it were to be sold in stores, would have only three pieces: a woman, a child, and a dragon. Not much money to be made off of it.

“Behold! . . . a red dragon . . . ” Leave it to John to confuse us once again! He does it so well throughout Revelation, at least according to many. He just can’t get the story right, can he? Ever the realistic prophet, the one who is always truthful but often tactless, John’s rendition offers conflict not carols, war not worship. It is a PG-13, if not R-rated, rendering of the story. Some scenes are too intense for young audiences, indeed for audiences of all ages.

There is no sentimental Christmas story here: no cozy fireplace, only a fire-breathing dragon; no cookie-eating Santa dressed in red, only a red dragon ready to devour the baby Jesus; no cuddly animals lowing, only a cunning dragon sweeping his tail across the heavens.

Can you imagine a dragon becoming a regular in a Christmas story performed by little children? Who would want the role? Can you picture a well known company printing Christmas cards with a red dragon lurking behind the manger scene? Of course not! Someone else already lays claim to the color red this time of year, we would be told. Let’s not confuse the public.

Of all the Christmas gifts I received as a child, there is one that disappointed me most: a set of encyclopedias. “What place do these books have being under a Christmas tree?!” I asked after I had stripped off the wrapping paper on a Christmas more than forty-five years ago. I wanted my Roy Rogers sixshooter and cowboy hat. At the age of eight, I believed that no book weighing more than two ounces was to be considered a gift.

But then one winter night, a year or two later, our family was listening to a family radio quiz show and we were challenged to crack open the volumes. We were told that the first family to answer the question correctly would win free tickets to some now-forgotten movie. The question? What was the first song ever recorded on a record to be played on the phonograph? We scurried through the pages and we found the answer.

The song? “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Now that is a Christmas carol?

Only once is Jesus referred to as a child by John. But twenty-eight times the child looks like a Lamb.

At our house we have a nativity set up year round. It is a beautiful set, carved out of wood from Israel. I have added a plastic piece which appears out of place. Right behind the manger, I have placed a red dragon. On Christmas day John of Patmos proclaims: “Behold! The Lamb went forth to slay the Dragon. Blessed be the name of the Lamb!”

[*The New Living Translation is used throughout. The word “Behold!” is in italics because it was omitted by the translators.]

Counting this year, I have now been a part of 22 Christmases as a Church leader. I have been a part of big productions to simple candlelight programs and everywhere in between. I get to see the good and bad of Christmas each year on full display. Through the years I have come to appreciate these hidden joys at Christmas.

1. Children Serving the Lord. I do not use the word “performing.” I view a Christmas program as an act of serving the Lord. I love seeing our young people sing and act and serve in numerous little ways. Thanks to all the young people who were involved yesterday.

2. Church Teamwork. Every special Church program takes a team of people helping to put everything together. This year we had musicians, song leaders, drama leaders, people helping with decorations and teachers. We had people helping in the lobby and in the kitchen. People donated food, money and time. It is great to see the Church work together to accomplish anything. Thanks to everyone who worked at making our program come together.

3. Lots of People. It was incredible to see the Church so full of people yesterday. I see unlimited potential to reach people with the message of the gospel in our area. Early in ministry I heard a Church leader say his goal was to have their Christmas attendance become their average attendance in 5 years. So far that has come true for me and so I get excited at big events like this because God is touching people’s lives and some for the first time who will eventually come to know Jesus as their savior.

4. Good Times. Early on in the planning for our Christmas program I asked my wife about the “12 Days of Christmas” skit the older kids were doing. Did it have any spiritual meaning? She said something like, “No, it’s just fun. And that’s okay.” She was right, sometimes we just need to smile and enjoy ourselves – even in Church.

5. Generosity. I love it that people are so giving this time of year. I saw a few pictures of the gifts being given to the Christian Children’s Home and it made me smile. I was also a part of distributing the Molten Fund with the pastors again this year. It was a fund set up years ago to help local people in the Christmas season. We were able to give away $16,000 to people with needs this year. I know these are just two of the thousands of acts of generosity that happen just here in Adrian. I always hope this spirit of kindness will last the whole year through.

I know that most of us enjoy a day or two off at Christmas. I know we enjoy getting gifts and being blessed. I know we enjoy family time together. But for me, I have come to enjoy these simple experiences every year.

What brings you joy at Christmas?

You Don’t Need A Date Night 

Is Happiness Different from Joy – I have thought this for years but someone finally articulated it for me.

3 Reasons People Attend Your Church for the First Time 

What NOT to Say to a Pastor’s Wife

Why I Don’t Preach Politics (A Follow-Up with Q & R) – Follow up to an article I linked to last week.

I Will Not Leave Jesus, But I’m Done With the Church – Link t0 an audio clip from John Piper

In honor of the new Star Wars movie coming out I thought I would share a little wisdom from Yoda.  Enjoy.