Act Like a Man

I got the chance to teach the Man in the Mirror Bible Study a few weeks ago, and the video has now been posted online.

I love this passage of Scripture: "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NIV). I like the ESV version too, which changes "be courageous":

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

The title of the Bible Study is Act Like a Man. I even gave the guys some hand motions to help them memorize the passage! (Come on, admit it. You remember the children's songs you learned with the hand motions the best.) They were pretty good sports about it, and I think most of them had it memorized by the time they left.

You can watch the video here.

I'm excited to be going to Houston in April to do a men's retreat for Sugarland UMC - taking this topic and expanding on it for the weekend.

Courage is an interesting topic to me. Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the U.S. is credited with this quote:

"One man, with courage, is a majority."

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30 Things in 30 Months Blog

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Jake and I have created a blog to track our 30 Things in 30 Months project. Click the pic below to see the list and a chronicle of our adventures.

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30 Things in 30 Months - A "Bucket List" for My Teenage Son & Me

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I came to the realization a few weeks ago that my son, halfway through his sophomore year in high school, had about 30 months to go until he graduated. Soon after that, he will be gone - off to college, maybe never to live with us full time again. (A parent can dream, right?)

I was struck by how many places in my life I have good intentions, but I don't always follow through. I don't want to drop my son off at college with a bucketful of regrets - things I wished we had done, experiences I wished we had shared. So I set about to be intentional about mazimizing the time I have left with son living in my home as a teenager.

Another factor that I quickly needed to take into account is how different we are! I could think of something off the top of my head with my daughter, and she would likely say, "I was just thinking of that too!" But my son and I have very different temperaments and personalities. Thankfully, we both love Jesus and want to serve him. We just see the world differently sometimes. I've learned to embrace that - but that is another post for another time.

So, how could I be intentional about getting the most out of my time with my son, do it in a way that had the highest likelihood of actually happening, and do things that HE would really want to do, as opposed to what I think he should like to do!?!?

So here is what I came up with: 30 Things in 30 Months - A "Bucket List" for My Son's Remaining Years in High School. To be honest, I'm pretty sure the movie, The Bucket List and the TV show My Name is Earl influenced me, but who cares?

So I told him about the idea and -- here's the genius --  I put him in charge. I asked him to make a list of 30 things he'd like to do with me before he graduates from high school. In 3 days, he had 25. I'm sure it will go beyond 30, and we'll whittle it down.

Some things I was happy to see on the list - college road trip to Boston (where I grew up) and snowboarding. Some surprises to: he wants to find another father-son duo to read a Christian book together and meet weekly to talk about it.

I'm so grateful God whispered this idea in my ear (He uses all kinds of tools to speak to His kids). And I'm excited that my son pounced on the idea.

Now, my prayer is for follow through, and for finances - the kid's got some expensive ideas. But I am trusting God to provide these opportunities for meaningful experiences that my son (and I) can look back on in the years and decades ahead.

I'll post the list as soon as we have it. Maybe I'll include the things that didn't make the list as well.

With you in the Great Adventure,
Brett

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What Should Joe Have Done?

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There’s been a lot of discourse about what Joe Paterno should or could have done. He heard from a graduate assistant that his former colleague and friend had sexually assaulted a boy in the showers of his locker room. He did tell his superiors, which seems to be within the legal requirements of his role as an employee of the institution. And then, as far as anyone can tell, he ignored it.

When it all came out – and it always all comes out—Coach Paterno was a casualty. Not just his job, but his legacy as well.

I would say that Joe Paterno’s failure was a moral failure, a failure of virtue and character, a failure of courage. When confronted with perhaps the worst thing you could hear about a trusted colleague, he lacked what my high school football coach (who was a contemporary of Paterno) called “intestinal fortitude.” Coach Paterno himself said, “I wish I had done more.”

So what should Joe have done? I have a few suggestions:

First, he should have asked more questions. He is saying the allegations from the grad assistant weren’t very specific. Really? They could have been as specific as the questions the coach asked. You’re the head coach. This happened in your locker room. This guy was at least a colleague, if not a friend. You’d want to make sure you have a clear idea of what this guy saw. You know what he witnessed will likely ruin someone’s life. Shouldn’t you make sure you know as specifically as possible what happened?

After he reported it to his supervisors, the next thing he should have done is confronted his friend: “I heard this from a grad assistant. I don’t believe he is lying. What is going on?” Most guys know when they’re being lied to. I would put a lot of faith in a tenured football coach being a pretty good judge of this. Look your friend in the eye. Hold him accountable. “What are you doing?”

From here there are only two options: help your him confess his actions to the appropriate authorities – probably the police, with a lawyer in tow; or go to the police yourself if he won’t do it—or at least confirm with the school Athletic Director that the allegations have been reported to the police. The main thing is, make sure this guy won’t be around any more young boys until an investigation is complete.

As an aside, I have a feeling the coach lost a fair amount of sleep over this. You don’t hear this about a guy you’ve worked with for a long time and whom you trust as a human being and just brush it off after you report it up the chain of command. Maybe he talked to his wife about it. Maybe he kept it to himself and stewed. I don’t believe a man who has given his entire life to coaching young men to excellence lacks the moral core to be deeply disturbed by something like this.

For those boys and for Joe Paterno’s sake, I wish he’d had the courage to ask more questions, confront the person whose been accused of these acts, make sure it couldn’t continue, act in the best interests of those who couldn’t protect themselves. In a similar situation, I hope I do.

Coach Paterno let a lot of people down—most of all, the boys Sandusky had access to. I know he didn’t mean to. And with the life he’s lived, this failure of courage is not indicative of every decision he’s ever made. But it was a failure. And it will taint his legacy.

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Boots on the Ground

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I work for Man in the Mirror. Our vision is for every church to disciple every man. So we basically work with churches in any way we can to train up leaders, equip them with resources they can use to reach and disciple men, and provide support and encouragement to pastors.

Here's the thing: I'll often go and conduct a training for 10-20 churches, or conduct a men's event for 50 or 250 guys. And then the same thing happens every single time: I leave.

Man in the Mirror celebrated its 25th Anniversary earlier this year with a banquet. We invited Bruce Wilkinson to come speak, and he offered to spend some time with our staff and executive team beforehand and talk about vision.

He queried us about what might be keeping us from achieveing our vision -- EVERY church discipling EVERY man is a tall order!

We knew the answer. We've known it for 10 years. The problem is what happens at the end of every interaction we have with churches and leaders. We leave. To solve the problem, someone needs to stick around and help these churches and leaders do the hard work of implementing the strategy that we help them develop. We need "boots on the ground."

How many, Bruce asked. How many would it take?

We felt like maybe one leader for every 1,000 churches would be a good start - this also happens to coincide with about one per every million people. Or about 330.

Bruce said, That's what you need! You need to find that "one in a million" person. 

Of course, you can imagine our reaction: "Who? Us?" To which he basically responded, If not you, who?

That was the beginning of our efforts to recruit 330 Area Directors to work in 1,000-church territories around the country, recruiting leaders to help them work with churches who want to reach and disciple EVERY man they can.

We're looking for those "one in a million" people. Maybe you're one of them. Maybe you know someone who is. Go to this site: www.mimareadirectors.org and poke around. Watch the video, read the job description, see what "A Day in the Life of an Area Director" might be like. Then, if it's for you, click on the link to Take the Next Step.

Do me a favor: Share this blog post or the link above with someone you know who is passionate about men's discipleship and might consider a career change to do it full time.

Let's help every church disciple every man.

Book Review: Nelson's Biblical Cyclopedic Index: The Best Bible Subject Index Ever

I received this book from Nelson as part of their BookSneeze program. I enjoyed reading though it, and am happy to write a review of it.

This reference book has a lot going for it. It's compact and comprehensive, covering a ton of subject areas. However, these two characteristics together bring out its weakness. It's not particularly deep in any of its subject areas. So if you are a lay person who is building a reference library to help you in your own Bible Study, this is a great addition to that library. If you're a pastor or scholar, you've likely already got all of this information - and tons more - in your library.

Boulderpalooza 2011!

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What a difference a year makes!


Last year, Cassidy and I went to Gainesville Rock Gym for Boulderpalooza in great climbing shape. I won men's beginner, and she would have won advanced, but got bumped to Open and finished 4th.


This year, we were both out of climbing shape for sure. She finished out of the top 3 in Advanced, and I took 3rd in beginner, although I climbed pretty poorly. It's 2 days later and my forearms are still in agony! 


Good news is we had a fantastic time. Neither of us expected to do well, so the competition was much more about having fun. I also just enjoyed spending the day with my daughter. She didn't climb with me much, but we had a couple hours on either side for the ride up and back. A great time talking on the way back especially, as we discussed her future with school and what's going on with church and friends. 


Just an awesome all-around day with my teen-aged daughter. I am fully aware that there are less and less of those opportunities available. So I am grabbing every one I can!


I was pretty proud of the kids from our gym team too. They won all the adult male divisions, and one of the female adult divisions, as well as juniors. Way to go Team Aiguille!!!


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As long as Christ is preached...

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Have you ever questioned someone's motives for preaching the gospel? Been a little suspicious or even critical of their motives? I have, for sure.

Paul didn't care. 

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. (Phil 1:15-18, written from imprisonment)

I can't tell you the number of times I see other people getting notoriety within Christendom that I don't feel jealous or cynical about their "success." It is a sign of my own pride, for sure. But having a higher focus - on seeing the gospel spread instead of getting credit for it - not only is more righteous, but a better way to live my life.


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Book Review - Living Life in the Zone

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Got this book to read by a freind of the ministry, Joe Pettigrew, and his friend and well-known sports personality, Kyle Rote, Jr. I'm reviewing it here for the BookSneeze program.

Living Life in the Zone is a good devotional book for men who are just starting out in their spiritual journey. There are four sections which cover the basic four areas of a Christian man's life: marriage, children, work and faith.

It is definitely oriented to the sports-minded guy. Each devotion has a key thought, a quote or text on a topic, some Biblical content and insight, questions for journaling or discussion, a call to action and prayer. It's basic biblical stuff, and maybe even a little too much at times for the type of guy who will be most interested in this type of book. But if a guy will stick with it, he will most likely find himself wanting to go deeper and deeper in his relationship with God.

A good, solid, basic devotional book with lots of sports references.

Buy it at http://tinyurl.com/2buswwk (Amazon)

The Marriage Prayer

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Spent the weekend in Houston. Got to share The Marriage Prayer at Friendswood Methodist with about a dozen couples on Friday night. It reminded me of the great scene from The Princess Bride...



On a serious note, The Marriage Prayer is a book, an evening couples event and an actual prayer. It reminds us of the importance of praying for our spouse every day, and of several keys to marriage:

Faithfulness, which brings security
Priority, that after God, our spouse should be our top priority
Purpose, to bring our spouse into God's presence
Unity, because we are one flesh
Attitude, we should encourage our spouse daily
and the Goal of Marriage - to bring God glory.

 I really enjoyed being with those couples and sharing about the struggles and triumphs in my own marriage.

But the GREATEST part of doing these is it reminds me how blessed I am to have a really, really wonderful wife.

The Clemmer family, Summer '10

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A Good Read...NYT: What is it about 20-somethings? & Driscoll's WP Response

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A great article in the New York Times about the 20-something generation. This article cites some empirical research. here's a excerpt:

One-third of people in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch. Two-thirds spend at least some time living with a romantic partner without being married. And marriage occurs later than ever. The median age at first marriage in the early 1970s, when the baby boomers were young, was 21 for women and 23 for men; by 2009 it had climbed to 26 for women and 28 for men, five years in a little more than a generation.

Mark Driscoll responded to this article with an op-ed in the Washington Post called The World is Filled with Boys Who Can Shave. He points out the impact of this specifically on men, challenging guys in their 20's to grow up. He challenges guys in this age bracket:

Men are supposed to be producers, not just consumers. You're defined by the legacy, the life, and the fruit that come out of you, not by what you take in. But most guys are just consumers.

Two great articles on this topic.

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Daily Read from the White Horse Inn blog: "Morally Therapeutic Deism"

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Great post from WHI about 'fake christianity' trend in our culture. Some would say Glenn Beck is in this camp, but I'm not sure.

From the blog post: "CNN online recently featured an article on Kenda Creasy Dean’s new book Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telliing the American Church (Oxford University Press, 2010)." Here's a quote cited from her book.

The problem does not seem to be that churches are teaching young people badly, but that we are doing an exceedingly good job of teaching youth what we really believe, namely, that Christianity is not a big deal, that God requires little, and the church is a helpful social institution filled with nice people…

Ouch!

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Why I don't like most blog posts...and why I really like some

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I manage the facebook page for Man in the Mirror, and I've started to post a message every morning called Your Morning Read. I look around for interesting blog posts or articles that I think the constituency of MIM would find helpful or interesting and give them a link.

As I have been looking for stuff to post, I realized that I have a reasonably simple set of criteria that I have been using to recommend a link. It's the same criteria I use to determine if I want to read something myself:
Relevance - This is the most obvious one. I read stuff that matters to me.
Writing - Poor writing quickly loses my interest.
Challenge - I love reading something that challenges me to think differently, be better, confront my own hypocrisy.
Length - Esoteric? Maybe. But this has become one of my crucial criteria. Do you have a lot of time to read blogs? People that talk just because they like the sound of their own voice bug me. I'm beginning to notice that about some bloggers as well, especially those who post daily. When a blog post goes on and on, I get the sense that it's just train of thought. Maybe there's some pressure to "meet deadline", and not enough editing time to put out a concise insight.
Self-contained - If I have to read too many previous postings to understand what this one is talking about, I lose interest.
Story - Take me somewhere. I will read previous postings if there is a narrative that is compelling. The best example I can give of this is the Wrestling with an Angel blog.
I could add other things as well: humor, a unique perspective, sarcasm (sometimes), humility.

So, I'll start posting some of these blogs here. Why say something that someone else can say better?  Look for those postings under, Your Daily Read. Enjoy!

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"Wannabe Cool" Christianity...Maybe Not as Bad as You Think

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Someone sent me this article recently from the Wall St. Journal: The Perils of 'Wannabe Cool' Christianity http://tinyurl.com/2dpzstj. The writer is a 27-year old self-professed evangelical who is frustrated with some of the trends of Christianity of late. He mentions pastors with $80 haircuts and metro styles, sermons about sex and hip cultural references. He is specific in his criticisms, and even names names.

Being in ministry full time, I am often frustrated by the ministries and personalities that seem to get all the attention because they are flashy. Meanwhile, I am just trying to help regular guys in churches disciple men more effectively.

So I read the article the first time and thought, “Yeah! Right on!” Then I felt a conviction that has become a regular “pricking of my heart” from God lately...

I have become increasingly hesitant to criticize what others in the Christian world are doing. I'm talking about style, not substance. Criticizing a guy for his $80 haircut is easy. On the other hand, I took a 10 minute shower this morning and didn’t give it a second thought, even though millions of people around the world have limited or no access to clean drinking water.

The “sex” talks may strike some as crass, but I know that Mark Driscoll is earnestly seeking to reach unchurched men in their 20’s. This is what they’re thinking about. I watched this video. I wish more pastors were willing to speak as frankly and directly (and Biblically) about issues like this. Though maybe not in the Sunday morning service. Maybe.

I thank God for Mark Driscoll and some of those other guys. He is using them in His own way. Frankly, it’s not my business whether He chooses to give them more or less “success” in ministry than my efforts, or those of my ministry or my church. I just need to be faithful to my calling.

Rather than focus on what others should or shouldn’t be doing, I think we should focus on God’s call to us to reach our community and the world with the Gospel.

Forgive me. I know that I'm probably being as self-righteous as it may seem that I am accusing the author of being. But then again, we're both named Brett.

The Real Meaning of Redemption

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Just read an article in the Wall Street Journal online about Manute Bol. Remember him? 7 feet 7 inches tall, about as graceful as an ostrich. I always kind of liked the guy. I have no idea why.

He died earlier this year of complications from a skin disease he contracted helping people in his native Sudan. He died mostly broke, though he made $6 million or so during his career. Where did the money go? Gambling? Expensive houses and cars? Nope. He gave it away to help people in Africa. Why? He was motivated by his love for his people and his Christian faith.

As this article notes, Manute showed us the real meaning of redemption. It's not about me being redeemed, it's about doing everything in my power to bring redemption to others.

Manute Bol. A real hero.

Read the rest of the story in this great article by Jon Shields: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575323043046894012.html

Chandler Mountain Challenge

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Had an awesome time climbing at HorsePens40 during the Chandler Mountain Challenge on Super Bowl weekend. It was a crazy weekend with lousy weather, but an awesome to hang out with family and meet some new friends.

My cousins and aunt and uncle live in Birmingham, so we drove there on Friday and stayed overnight. My folks flew down from Troy, MI to see us (and my mom's sister). That was a miracle in itself, as my mom's health has prevented her from doing much for a couple of years now. Amazing what a little brain surgery can do for ya! (You heard me -- brain surgery.)

Anyway, we drove up to HP40 through rain and sleet on Saturday, hung out for an hour waiting to see if the weather would clear, and then...drove back to Birmingham. Comp postponed to Sunday...Super Bowl Sunday!

The family all agreed to climb on Sunday and hustle back for at least the second half of the "big game." So off we went on Sunday morning. And it was COLD! Too cold for Jackson to even want to climb for the first 4 hours of the comp. (Smart dude. He still won his age division even though he spent a few hours learning the finer points of checkers from Howard Schultz, the HP40 owners' father.) I know they say the cold air helps with friction, but if you can't feel  your fingers, what good does friction do ya?

Cassidy, Kimberly and I climbed...OK, Cassidy and I climbed. This was Kimberly's first time outdoors and she just couldn't do anything hard. I got so caught up in finding Cassidy and myself stuff to climb, that I earned the crappy husband of the year award for not paying attention to my wife. She persevered and toward the end of the day we found some routes that were perfect for her. She ended up taking 3rd place in women's!!! Cassidy took 2nd. My women rock!!!

As for me, I learned how easy it is for me to get caught up in good things and ignoring the best things. Taking care of my wife was a best thing, and it took me all day to do it - and, I'm ashamed to say, a few weeks to realize how bad I'd made her feel. I get so caught up in my own world so often that I miss the bigger picture.

As a husband, my job is to put my wife first - emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. Too often I forget to take care of her, often in the guise of, "I don't want her to think that I think she can't handle it." Honestly? That's just a copout. What I really don't want is for her to cramp my style. Pretty self-centered.

So guys, if you're reading this, here's my take: God gave us our wives and it's our job to take care of them first. Just like Christ takes care of his bride, the Church, to the point of taking on all the penalties for our sins. I am supposed to put my wife first, ahead of what I feel I deserve or I'm entitled to.

I can't wait to take her back to HP40 and spend the whole day finding routes she can climb. I want her to love rock climbing, not for me (OK, a little for me), but because it makes her feel like she's accomplishing great things. At our age, we need new accomplishments!

By the way, the folks from Solid Rock Climbers for Christ http://www.srcfc.org/ put this event on, and they did a great job, especially considering the conditions. I was excited to be able to share a little bit after the climbing. I talked about faith in a person - Jesus - not in a religion. The competitors were very gracious. I spoke quick...it was cold and there were prizes to be awarded!

Thanks to Brad Killough and his family, Ryan Bolen, Jonathon Parker and the Schultz's for a very fun day, and a good lesson.

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Photo credits: Kimberly Clemmer

Boulderpalooza 2010 - A Lesson in Fairness & Fathering

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Boulderpalooza 2010 is in the record books, with some shocking results for the Clemmer family.

Cassidy and I went up for the competition last weekend. Jackson's first flag football game was the next day, and he wisely thought he should attend the last practice before the game...which got cancelled due to weather 30 minutes after we left. Aauugghh!!

Anyway, we had a great time climbing. The comp was well set and well run. Props to the Gainesville Rock Gym and the sponsors for a fun, fun time. The ending is what was so surprising.

Only 2 Open climbers showed up (the highest level, kind of like 'pros'). So one of Cassidy's climbing friends who would probably normally climb Advanced jumped into the Open category. This makes sense, since there was a cash prize for 1st thru 3rd place in Open. She is a GREAT climber, and she finished with more points than Cassidy in the red point section of the comp; 3rd in the Open division. Cassidy finished first in Advanced. Everybody's happy!

Then, they decided that Cassidy climbed too well to be in Advanced, so they bumped her into Open, which has a finals climbing competition. Which would have been pretty cool if there wasn't a cash prize for Advanced too. So, she climbed in the Open Finals On Sight and finished 4th. No victory in Advanced, since she was bumped out, and no money in Open. Pretty frustrating, especially considering she's a teenager, not a pro, and she entered Advanced appropriately.

It has been a lesson for us both. The good news is, of course, at 15 she got bumped into the top division of a comp with prize money involved. She beat the next climber in Advanced by a ton of points, and every route she completed she did on her first try (a "flash").  We've learned about pacing yourself for finals a bit, and Cassidy got great exposure to the sponsors (hello, La Sportiva? My daughter's shoes have holes in the toes and she LOVES her Solutions! Hint! Hint!), as well as practice climbing in front of a crowd that should help her at Sport Climbing Youth Nationals this year, Lord willing that she qualifies.

I also had to learn to control my emotions as I spoke to the organizers about the decision they made to bump her up. It was a compliment to her climbing, but perhaps not a "fair" decision in light of the circumstances. I was impressed with Pat from the gym, who listened to my frustration, expressed their reasoning clearly, and allowed that though they felt the made the best decision they could under the circumstances, they might not make the same decision the next time they faced this situation. I think I kept my cool, explained my feelings as a dad, and a coach.

Pat said they would have a debriefing and maybe ("I can't promise anything") they would be able to do something for her. (They gave TONS of stuff away through raffles and she got shut out of that as well. Including free La Sportiva shoes..."Hello? La Sportiva? Did I mention Cassidy's Solutions have holes? Oh, I guess I did.) I haven't heard from them and I don't know if I will. It would be nice for them to follow up.


It's been perhaps the greatest lesson to me as a father. What better opportunity to help your children learn to face adversity and the "unfairness" of life (in a fallen world) than something like this. I wanted to tell her she was robbed! The people running the comp had it in for her! It would be so easy to put her in the position of being a victim. And I'm sure a little of the leaked out.

But I was proudest of her reaction. She was, of course, devastated at the lost opportunity to win the Advanced Division in an adult bouldering comp, and especially the 300 bucks that went with it. But after a little while of crying on daddy's shoulders (oh, did THAT suck! my heart was breaking...), she pulled herself together. Her facebook status later on that evening showed her positive attitude:

boulderpalooza was a blassst. and im such a beastly climber i got bumped to open from advanced. hahaha.

 Wow!!!

So, lessons learned:

• LIfe is not fair. (Duh!)
• My daughter has an amazing capacity to overcome adversity and not be mad at the world. I am still working on this.
• My daughter is a gifted climber. Beastly.
• Being a dad often means helping your kids deal with frustration, not fixing it.

Oh, and one more thing. I won the Men's Beginner division. Haha! The prize? A new rope and a pair of climbing shoes. (Evolv shoes. Cassidy wants La Sportiva's. She's loyal.)

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Photo: Cassidy on the first of 3 routes in the Open finals. Thank you to Patrick Gallagher for posting this pic on his facebook photo album, Boulderpalooza 2010

Merry Christmas! And Here is Luke's Account

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In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.


So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

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Hoarding Life

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Heard a great sermon on Sunday. My pastor, Pete Alwinson, is talking about Peace this Advent season. One of the points he has made is that the Christian faith often causes one to lose peace - the peace that is found in complacency in particular. He used this great quote from Wm. Barclay:
I can see how I "hoard life" sometimes. I want it to be comfortable. I want my family to be comfortable, and my job to be comfortable and my church to be comfortable... Working in ministry makes it even easier to be like this, because I've always got a convenient comeback to those feelings that maybe I'm not really living my life in a way that builds the Kingdom as effectively as it could. I can always hark back to some ministry experience that blunts the barb of Christian conscience.

There is no place for a policy of safety first in the Christian life. The man who seeks first ease and comfort and security and the fulfillment of personal ambition may well get all these things, but he will not be a happy man; for he was sent into this world to serve god and to serve His fellow man. A man can hoard life, if he wishes to do so. But that way he will lose all that makes life valuable to others and worth living for himself.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to lay a guilt trip on myself. I just want to be honest with myself about the ramifications of my faith.  Patrick Morley quotes Dr. Schaeffer in his book, The Man in the Mirror, and points out the two "impoverished values" of personal peace  and affluence.

Personal peace means just to be let alone, not to be troubled by the troubles of other people, whether across the world or across the city -- to live one's life with minimal possibilities of being disturbed...Affluence means an overwhelming and ever-increasing prosperity -- a life made of things, things and more things -- a success judged by an ever-higher level of material abundance. (from Frances Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live, 1976)

I want to be sure that I am not committed to ease, comfort, ambition, personal peace and affluence - that I am not "hoarding my life" - so that I miss out on what I could be doing to make a difference in the world.


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Broken-Hearted at Christmas

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Seems like Christmas is a rough time for a lot of people emotionally. I suspect it's the contrast between the joy that is expected to permeate the season and the reality of unmet expectations, broken relationships or just that general feeling of, "is this really as good as it's going to get?"  

Got this Weekly Briefing from Pat Morley at work today. A great message for the Christmas season.

My heart has been broken many times -- left out, made fun of, rejected, feeling alone, feeling unloved, depressed, broken promises, shattered dreams, betrayal, falsely accused. And then there are my sins of which I am ashamed and over which I grieve.

What is breaking your heart today? Maybe an injustice -- by you or against you. Maybe you're grieving, or need to grieve, what could've been -- a son on drugs, a daughter who has wandered from the path, a spouse who seems distant, or parents who got divorced. The closer the person, the deeper the hurt. (excerpted from To Anyone With a Broken Heart, Weekly Briefing Volume 351, December 14, 2009. Read the rest of the article.)

I'm praying that we would all feel the real presence of God this season -- His peace, love and comfort in the midst of a trying and difficult world. If you know Him, don't forget to talk to Him. If you don't, just talk to Him, He'll hear you. If you want to talk to Him and don't know how, email me (baclemmer@maninthemirror.org). I know Him and I'd be happy to introduce you.

 
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Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cckaiser/ / CC BY 2.0