Spiritual Growth

From nature we can learn a lot about spiritual growth and understand truth about how we grow in Christ. All the human intelligence and technology cannot give life to anything we see in nature. It is only God the creator that can make anything grow in our world.

When we have little kids we would like to see them grow rapidly but there is nothing we can do to help them grow faster. We can feed them and give them love but we know that when it comes to growth the situation is out of our hands. Jesus said:

“For apart from me you can do nothing”. (John 15:5 NIV)

I write this word today because many of us as Christ followers think that growth came from our own efforts. Then as we find that our efforts are not working or providing the growth we are hoping for, we grow tired and frustrated.

Today my invitation is to sit at the feet of Jesus like Mary did when Jesus came to visit her and her sister Martha at their home in a village near Jerusalem.  Martha wanted to impress and to serve Jesus – nothing wrong with that – but Mary wanted to simply sit at the feet of Jesus and allow Him to do what only He could  do. The part of the Christian life I enjoy the most, is to sit at the feet of Jesus and receive life, peace and strength from Him.

At the end Jesus replied to Martha:

“My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10: 41-42 NLT)

As you sit at the feet of Jesus you will find yourself growing and enjoying a rich spiritual life like you’ve never before experienced. This is because you understand that He is the only one that can provide the life and the power that allow us to grow and bear fruit.

- Obed Escobar

To Believe or Not To Believe

T’was the night before Christmas, the children are nestled all snug in their beds when all of a sudden one of them asks the question, “Mom…is Santa real?” Do we tell them there isn’t a Santa and feel as though we have ruined the spirit of Christmas, or tell them there is a Santa and then try to explain why we have not been honest with them for all those years. And, how can we make sure our kids know the true meaning of Christmas? These are the tough questions many Christian parents ask.
My wife and I were raised with two different viewpoints on this subject. My parents loved the spirit of Christmas and played it up big. Complete with milk and cookies, jingle bell ringing to warn us that Santa was near, the whole ‘better be good or you get a lump of coal’ thing, and a round of “Happy Birthday to Jesus” before opening presents. My wife grew up with a different view. Santa was not a part of their family’s Christmas tradition. Now we have our own children and the question is: What are we going to do for our family? I remember Jody and I having conversations as our daughter was approaching the age of truly understanding Christmas and not just playing with the empty box. Would we tell her Santa is real or not? Allow her to believe or not believe in Santa. Above all else our children were going to know the true meaning of Christmas.
At the age of four it happened, “the question.” I remember explaining to her that Santa was not real, and how there was a real historic figure that brought gifts to kids a long time ago. We still celebrate this today by giving gifts to one another. Christmas is not all about checking off a wish list of presents, but the true meaning of Christmas is celebrating the best gift ever given—Jesus. And what a gift that was! Jesus leaving His heavenly home and coming to earth—from streets of gold to a food trough.
Jesus sacrificed so much for us. And it all comes down to love. Even adults need to be reminded what Christmas is all about. It is so much more than our shopping list or Santa. Our challenge is to find the best way to communicate Jesus, the true meaning of Christmas, to our children and the world around us.
Just recently I came across this article from the Washington Post, written by Mark Driscoll, Preaching & Theology Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle concerning how Christian parents should address the issue of Santa. Click the link below:

“What We Tell Our Kids About Santa” by Mark Driscoll

Good Gifts

It’s funny how one’s perspective can become their reality. We just had a Girl Scout troop come by and put on a party for all the kids here at Sunshine Acres (where my wife & I serve as houseparents). It was really cool because it was a different twist on a Christmas party. This party was to allow the kids to choose gifts for their family members and provide the wrapping supplies so that each kid could present their family members with a wrapped gift on Christmas.
Almost all of the kids were very excited. None of them have the money, time or ability to purchase gifts for their families and all of the kids stress about this because everyone wants to give a good gift right?
I was surprised by the attitudes, or more succinctly, the two different attitudes present. Most of the kids were extremely grateful. They chose their presents, wrapped them excitedly and were extremely grateful. But there was another group, granted a very small percentage, that just weren’t happy. They either complained the gifts weren’t what they were looking for or they found some other reason to be displeased.
How could this be? They all were in the same situation. They all attended the same party. They all had the same amount of time to pick and wrap gifts. What was different? Why were some unhappy while the vast majority giddy? It all comes down to perception. Each kid’s perception changed their reality.
So, as we all are together, praying and waiting for God’s gift for Red Mountain Christian Center, let me ask you a question? Are you letting anything change, alter or skew your perception about “the process?” Are you “sitting at your table” patiently waiting for your turn to receive “the gift?” Or are you “sitting at your table” grumbling and complaining that all the good gifts are probably gone?
Just a little real world reminder…stay expectant, trusting God that “our gift” will be just exactly what he wants to give us and our turn will come at just the right time.

- Rob Scharret

Do not be afraid.

It is the time of the year when we, as Christians, begin to celebrate with excitement and anticipation the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Something that has stuck out to me this year is how often God sends a messenger to speak to people His message, and they tell them to not be afraid.  Look to the story with me.

Zechariah and Elizabeth do not have a child.  In Luke, we read that an angel appears to Zechariah.

But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (Luke 1:13)

Again, God sends a messenger to Mary,

And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30)

Further down in the story, an angel speaks to a bunch of shepherds,

And the angel said to them (shepherds), Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. (Luke 2:10)

It is with this knowledge that I say to you “Do not be afraid,” because apparently when God shows up to do something, people get afraid.  That is why God keeps reminding them to not fear.  When God gets involved, the future is changed, uncertain, plans don’t go the way we planned them.  We tend to think we know what God’s will is, sometimes better than God knows.  Really?

Now, what fear does to us is the problem.  We all fear and we all handle fear in different ways.  The problem with fear is that it comes on us because we are picturing a future event that could happen or might happen and our fears over take us.  Many of us are visionaries and don’t even realize it.  We don’t like to think of ourselves as visionaries because that is for people who lead in great and amazing ways.  Yet, here we stand attempting to predict the future.

Don’t be fearful.  Don’t let anxiety over future events that haven’t happened yet overtake you.  Instead, we need to trust.  Instead, we need to be thankful for what we do have, what we know to be true, and let everything else fall by the wayside.

God has our church in His hands.  He says He will take care of us.  In fact, Jesus himself tells us that the Father will take care of us just as He takes care of the sparrows, the ravens, the lilies, and the grass.  He cares about His children.  His plan is in place.

Do not be afraid.  God is showing up at Red Mountain Christian Center.

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? (Luke 12:25-26)