We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Celebrating Christmas

Just so you will know...

A new Rasmussen Reports^™ national telephone survey found that 66 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday and another 20 percent celebrate the event as a secular holiday.

Of those who celebrate Christmas, 81 percent believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to earth to die for our sins and 72 percent say Jesus was born to a virgin.

Among all Americans, whether they celebrate Christmas or not, 82 percent say the person known to history as Jesus Christ actually walked the earth 2,000 years ago. Only three percent say he did not and 15 percent aren't sure.

Last year at this time, 64 percent of Americans said they planned to celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, while 27 percent planned to celebrate in a secular fashion.

Also, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports^™ survey, 81 percent of adults who celebrate Christmas agree that decorating their tree is a fun experience. Just a "Scroogelike" nine percent (9%) say the tradition is an unpleasant chore, while eight percent (8%) rate it somewhere in between. Women enjoy decorating the tree slightly more than men and young adults consider it more fun than their elders.

Who Was Jesus' Grandfather?

Few aspects of the Bible seem less relevant to daily life than genealogies. Yet for Gospel writers Matthew and Luke, they were absolutely essential for understanding Jesus.

Genealogies fulfilled multiple purposes in the ancient world. Society was organized around kinship patterns, so every family needed lists that described their ancestral pedigree. Such family trees determined a person's social relationships. For instance, two families planning the marriage of their children would compare family lines to check kinship ties to ensure the two were "compatible." And rulers used genealogies to justify their power, rank, and status.

So why are the genealogical trees in Matthew and Luke so different? Matthew begins his Gospel with Jesus' genealogy, while Luke places it, strangely, between Jesus' baptism and temptation. Matthew has an ascending list, moving from Abraham up to Jesus, while Luke has a descending list, moving from Jesus down to Adam. Matthew's list is partial; Luke's is complete. And most significantly, while the two lists are virtually identical from Abraham to David, they diverge greatly from David to Jesus.

Several solutions have been proposed to explain the differences. Martin Luther said that Matthew gives Joseph's line and Luke Mary's line. Others, such as Tertullian, reversed this. Yet the explanation fails in both directions, because the Gospels clearly state that they are listing Joseph's line (Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23). Julius Africanus proposed that Matthew follows Jesus' natural descent and Luke his legal descent. Neither Gospel indicates such an approach, though, and it is best to allow the authors to speak for themselves.

A Closer Look

Examining each genealogy closely reveals the authors' different purposes. Matthew's list resembles those used by rulers to justify their rank and status, and by families to determine connections to a common ancestor. Matthew arranges his genealogy into three groups of 14 names each. In Jewish gematria—a kind of numerology stemming from the fact that letters of the Hebrew alphabet were also numbers—names have numerical value. The three consonants for David add up to 14. So Matthew underscores Jesus' kingly ancestry by working in groups of David, or 14.

Matthew portrays Jesus as the long-awaited Savior whose pedigree demonstrates his claim to be the Son of David and royal Messiah. Another unique feature of his genealogy is the presence of four women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Each had a scandalous aspect of her life, thus paving the way for Mary as an unwed mother. And all were (or were married to) Gentiles, foreshadowing the Gentile mission so important in Matthew's gospel.

Luke, on the other hand, begins his genealogy with "the son, so it was thought, of Joseph" (3:23), and concludes with "the son of God" (3:38). At Jesus' baptism, God declares Jesus "my Son" (3:22), and Jesus' temptation begins with Satan recognizing him as "the Son of God" (4:3). Placed between Jesus' baptism and temptation, Luke's genealogy is meant to proclaim that Jesus is, indeed, God's only Son.

Luke does not group the names like Matthew does but provides a simple succession of ancestors. The list contains many more common names (some of which we know nothing about) and seems to underscore Jesus' humanity as well as his divine sonship. Moreover, by going all the way back to Adam (the ancestor of all humanity), Luke maintains a universal thrust, emphasizing that Jesus came for all mankind. The list ends with Adam, and then Luke moves into the story of Jesus' encounter with Satan in the wilderness, in which Jesus rises above temptation as Adam did not. The message is clear: In Jesus, all human beings find their sins overcome.

Are there difficulties in reconciling the genealogies? Can they be harmonized? The answer in both cases is yes. Matthew's and Luke's lists stem largely from Old Testament genealogies (see Gen. 10-11 and 1 Chron. 1-3) and Jewish sources, and the differences between the names occur largely because each evangelist was selective in whom he included.

After Nathan in Luke's account and after Zerubbabel in Matthew's, no names adhere to other biblical passages, but few doubt that both lists are following traditional sources. We may never know whether Jesus' paternal grandfather through Joseph was Jacob (Matt. 1:15) or Heli (Luke 3:23b), and it could well be that they were brothers, with Heli the uncle and legal line of Jesus and Jacob the physical line. Either way, each genealogy reveals something about Jesus.

Grant Osborne is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Passive Parents

I recently read an article by Cary Schmidt about "The Pitfalls of Passive Parents" that he developed from the failures of Eli in raising his sons. It reminded me of how important a parent's involvement is in his/her children's lives and how consistency is absolutely necessary to guide our children toward spiritual maturity. In this blog post I have shared Cary's major points, along with a brief summary of the emphasis he was making in his article. I pray these thoughts will challenge you to take up the role God has given you to parent your children.

1. Passive parents defer parenting and spiritual emphasis to institutions and Christian environments.

• Mere environmental changes--like church, school, or youth group--are no guarantee that our children will live honorably.

2. Passive parents excuse their own sin and their children's.

• Sometimes we tolerate sin in our children's lives because we don't want to deal with our own sin.

3. Passive parents avoid confrontation and responsibility.

• They see everyone else at fault--the teacher, the pastor, the youth pastor, the other kids, the church, the school, etc.

4. Passive parents have the truth but don't apply it.

• They sit in church week after week hearing the preaching without really listening or applying it to their own lives.

5. Passive parents focus on behavior modification rather than heart transformation.

• They are more concerned with minimizing their own embarrassment than with molding their child's heart.

6. Passive parents invest high energy into personal interests/careers, but little energy into parenting.

• They find time for the things they want to do, but save little time for guiding their children in spiritual, social, educational, and other important life matters.

7. Passive parents ultimately resign themselves to "whatever will be..."

• They invest little energy into trying to bring about change when a child is repeatedly recalcitrant.

8. Passive parents will answer to God for their own neglect, not their children's choices.

• At the end of the day, our children have the power to make choices that we cannot control. We are accountable for how we parent our children before, during, and after those choices.

These are important thoughts to consider if we are to maximize our effectiveness in raising our children. The task is ours to guide our children toward the Lord and His priorities. Nobody has greater influence on our children than we do as their parents, unless we are "passive" in the parenting process.

My Dad's Obituary

James David Lemming, 87, went to be with his Lord, Sat, Dec 5, 2009. He is survived by Dot, his wife of 68 years, two daughters - Diane (Harry) and Cheryl (David) and one son David (Mary); four grandchildren, John (Karen), Rebekah (Jeremy), Jon David (Katie), and Cristy; three great grandchildren, Brooke, Grace and Luke; one brother Paul (Estelle), two nieces Paula (Weyman) and Charlene; one aunt and several cousins.

He served the Lord by playing trumpet in the brass band and mandolin in the string band at the Salvation Army Lakewood Church and by teaching young people at Ousley United Methodist Church and then ending his teaching after several years of teaching the Pioneer Class at Ousley, a class that became a part of his family. He was a member at his death of 1st Baptist Church of Ellenwood.

He was drafted October 18, 1942 into the service of his country. He proudly served America in WW II in England and Germany as a Sergeant in the 8th Air Force. He was discharged December 31, 1945.

Dr. Tim Yates (a dear friend of the family) of Lewis Memorial Baptist Church of Huntington, WV will conduct the service, Tues., Dec 8 at 11 AM at Horis Ward’s Funeral Chapel in Stockbridge, Ga.; interment will be at Rest Haven Cemetery in Decatur. Members of the Pioneer Class will serve as honorary pall bearers. Visitation is Mon, Dec 7, from 6 to 8 PM.

My Hero

Today, December, 5, 2009, my dad went to be with his Lord. For 87 years he lived his life seeking to honor Jesus Christ and he brought up his children to do the same. These last two years have been very difficult for him, as he struggled with ever increasing physical problems. Today he no longer struggles or feels the pains of this life. I already miss him more than words can possibly express!

This picture was taken five months ago (July 2009) during our family vacation at the beach. This is our families annual gathering that we have observed for the past thirty-five years. Dad struggled to come, but I'm glad he pushed himself to join us, as the talks we had on our condo deck will go with me the rest of my life.

Dad, welcome home to your "eternal dwelling" with the Savior you loved and honored. Maybe it won't be too long and the rest of us can join you for the greatest family gathering ever on the banks of the crystal flowing river.

I pray these few brief thoughts reflect the heart of a son with the deepest of love and highest of respect for the man he was PROUD to call his father!!

May God show me how to walk in your footsteps, dad...till we meet again. "Even so come, Lord Jesus."

Your Son,

David

We Do Country, Too!

Lest you thought we were only good at disco...watch these country steps, too.

"Bustin-A-Move"

This is one of the videos a church member gave me and I couldn't keep it to myself. As you can see, many of our staff have some really good dance moves. LOL

This is the second installment in this series about our objectives. If you haven't already read the first four of them, then please do so before reading these final three.

Objective #5: To provide practical, biblical messages and Bible study opportunities for God’s people to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord.

Once a person has trusted Christ as his Savior, a desire is created within him to learn more about God, His will, and His ways. Because this learning process requires understanding the Bible, God wants every believer to commit himself to a local church where he can find assistance in this pursuit. Through the pulpit ministry, Sunday school, small group Bible studies, and other Scripture learning opportunities offered by our church, we seek to communicate, in an understandable fashion, the life-changing principles of His Word, thus enabling His people to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord.” We make a concerted effort to present God’s Word in a manner that is both relevant and applicable to modern society, while maintaining our commitment to His eternal and uncompromising Truth.

Objective #6: To train and involve every member in using his/her abilities and gifts to do the work of the ministry through the local church.

Most everything in life requires teamwork to be successful and the church is no exception. Wonderfully, God has gifted each of His children with talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts that, when blended together with those of other Christians, cause the ministry of the church to flourish and bring fulfillment to the believer’s life. This partnership in ministry is portrayed through a vivid word picture in Scripture used to describe the functioning of the church: a body. As a body has many different members, each working to fulfill its responsibility for the good of the whole, so the church has many members working together for the glory of God. No member is unimportant or insignificant and each plays a key role in enabling the church to do God’s work successfully. It is our desire to see every member working with the leadership of our fellowship to find and hone their gifts, talents, and abilities and then to utilize the same as valuable members of God’s team. Serving God through the local church with the gifts and abilities He has given is a satisfying and beneficial way to live.

Objective #7: To build and utilize a church facility that can be used to minister to the total person -- spiritually, physically, and socially.

People are multi-dimensional creatures with many different needs spanning the full spectrum of life. For many years churches primarily concerned themselves with only the spiritual aspects of believers and directed the membership to look elsewhere to meet their other needs. Because we believe the church should be actively involved in ministering to the total person, it is our desire to develop and maintain a broad range of programs that provide the Christian community an alternative to secular programs. To accomplish this we must utilize our existing facilities for activities that are in addition to the regular worship services and plan all new facilities with these expanding opportunities in mind. It is our desire to see a growing number of Christians build their lives around the church and the ministries of the church.

Our Church Objectives

Over the next two weeks I will outline our church objectives. These seven statements (with the accompanying explanations) are the framework of what I believe God has called us to do, with the specific details coming as we continue moving forward into the future. I first wrote these about twelve years ago and they have been the guiding principles we have followed. I hope you will not only read them with interest...I pray you will join us in the work God has given us to do for His glory.

Objective #1: To have 1,200 active members in services, glorifying the Savior together through worship.

Worship is the heart of the Christian life and the fundamental purpose for our very existence. So important is this part of the spiritual life, that the Bible says God is “seeking” those who will worship Him. The reason is that when Christians begin to understand God and His majesty, which is the goal of true biblical worship, submission to His will and His Word is the result. While worship should take place privately in each individual’s life, it is also to be something that we do corporately as the body of Christ. Heaven is the perfect example of this kind of worship, when we are all together around the throne of God glorifying Him. In anticipation of that day, we meet together weekly as God’s people to lift up our Savior and believe that God is honored when all of the members are present and active in this most holy vocation. It is our desire to fill our worship center to capacity with adults, teens, and children, blending their voices and hearts together in song, praise, prayer, and preaching that recognize and exalt our great God.

Objective #2: To share the Gospel of Christ with every resident of the Tri-State area in a persuasive and understandable manner.

There is no greater responsibility given to a New Testament church than to communicate the Gospel of Christ to the lost. The importance of this task rests upon the fact that a person who dies without receiving God’s salvation (made possible through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ), will spend eternity separated from Him in eternal torment. For the sake of men’s souls, we take very seriously our duty to reach Tri-State residents with the only message that can change a person’s eternal destiny. Because of the great diversity of people and backgrounds, it is extremely important that we present this message in a manner that can be clearly understood by all people and that we use the most effective means available to influence as many for Christ as possible. Some of the ways that we are presently spreading the Good News from our church are: personal visits, television broadcasts, Gospel literature, evangelistic services, holiday programs, friendship evangelism, etc. We are always looking for better and more persuasive ways to spread God’s love to everyone. Our methods may change for the sake of effectiveness, but our message must never change!

Objective #3: To be the kind of New Testament fellowship where God’s people can find love, acceptance, guidance, encouragement, and discipline in their pursuit of a godly life.

Godliness is not something that simply happens apart from the proper nurturing of a believer’s spiritual life. Therefore, our church exists to provide the atmosphere necessary for each individual to reach his fullest potential in Christ Jesus. We believe that this includes a balance between the following spiritual factors: love, acceptance, guidance, encouragement, and discipline. Love and acceptance produce the environment in which a believer can feel safe to open up to what God wants to do in his life, without fear of rejection. Guidance and encouragement come through the Word of God and concerned saints whose interest is to assist others in maturing in their faith. Discipline is simply the means of helping a person stay on course through compassionate, non-condemning accountability. The presence of these qualities, working together in unison, provides the spiritual framework in which the Lord can best perform His work of making a person like Himself. Each of us must be involved in maintaining these attributes in order for them to be fully realized in our fellowship.

Objective #4: To reach every country of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to send out career missionaries and pastors from our membership.

As difficult as it is to believe, there are millions of people around the world who have never once heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of His power to save. Our desire is to do all we can to place within the reach of every person the opportunity to know Christ as we know Him through faith in His death, burial, and resurrection. But, the question must be asked, “...How shall they hear without a preacher?” They can’t, so for this reason we are asking God to reach into our fellowship and choose from among us those whom He can use in the States and in foreign lands to preach His glorious Gospel. Coupled with this is a willingness to financially and prayerfully assist these chosen servants as well as believers from other churches who are called of God for this purpose. We need members to seek God concerning His will for their lives, to pray faithfully for those who have been called, and to give generously to our world missionary outreach.

Next week I'll share the final three objectives...