Tim Clark’s Blog

This tune, by Relient K, is one of my favorite modern Christmas songs. I can’t listen to it without a deep emotional response, and incredible gratitude to Jesus for the reality of Christmas—the cradle that led to a cross. Someone on youtube put the song to video from the movie “The Nativity”; here it is. Listen, watch, hear, wonder, and worship!

Merry Christmas!

One of the Christmas traditions at our church is lighting the candles in the advent wreath. Advent means “the coming”and it represents a period of anticipation surrounding the celebration of the coming of the messiah.  About 10 years ago, when I wanted to use the advent candles in a series of Christmas services, I searched high and low to figure out the “real” meaning of the advent wreath, but I discovered all kinds of explanations…in other words, there was not one accepted tradition. So I’ve taken the tradition and modified it a bit. The following is how we celebrate the coming of Christ through the advent wreath/candles in our church family:

Our wreath includes 4 white pillar candles surrounding a red candle in the center. We light the candles in a 4-week succession before Christmas Eve as we follow the story of the coming of Christ. The first candle is the HOPE candle (traditionally the ‘prophesy’ candle). It represents the accurate prophesies that were made for hundreds of years about the coming of Christ. God’s people waited in great hope and anticipation for the Messiah to come, as we continue to expectantly wait in hope for his second coming.

The second candle is the FAITH candle (traditionally the Mary candle). This speaks of the simple faith of Mary and Joseph; two young people who had intense faith to believe those incredible things that were told to them. It was their simple but powerful faith that opened the way for the coming of the Savior, and it is our simple faith that opens the way for Him to come to us today.

Third is the JOY candle (sometimes known as the Angel or Shepherd candle; at times we have used a pink candle which represents joy). The Angels shared the joy and Shepherds received it. Christmas should be a joyful period and a time for great celebration, for “unto us a child is born…a savior who is Christ the Lord…they will call Him Immanuel, which means God with us”. Usually on this week we go all out with our music and our celebration as we express the full joy that connects to the reality of God with us (it’s usually the week we hold our annual “Christmas Extravaganza” at which we share food, talent, and life with one another).

The fourth candle represents PEACE (traditionally called the Bethlehem candle). Jesus was not born in the big city or in an opulent castle. He intentionally came to the poorest of places, and was presented to the humblest of people. Just when we are about to go crazy with the hustle and bustle of the season, we stop to recognize the need for the peace and humble simplicity of Bethlehem in our lives.

Then finally, on Christmas Eve, we light the center red candle, which is the LOVE candle. It represents Jesus as the Light of the world, and as the embodiment of Love; on Christmas, Love came down and became a human who would grow up and live a life which showed us exactly what Love looked like. The ultimate expression of that Love was displayed on the cross when He died for us so we could have life and direct relationship with the One who Loved us so much. The red candle represents the shed blood of Christ which saved us from our sins; it’s the reason Jesus was born in the first place.

For us this brings great meaning to the season as it weekly reminds us why we are celebrating. Whether it is in your congregation or in your home, conisder using this tradition in your Christmas and intentionally tie meaning to the anticipation that most of us feel as we lead up to Christmas day.

Today I listened to an excellent message by Dr. Michael Salmeier (it will be loaded on the podcast by 12.16), a professor at Life Pacic College and one of the members of our church. He talked about the fact that the arrival of Jesus was broadcast to and through those on whom society did not look favoribly; not the ‘best and the brightest’, or the rising stars of the culture.

There are times when all of us feel like the outcast; the ones on the outside of the inner circle. Maybe times when we can’t make end’s meet or we feel like life is just passing us by. Perhaps we stuggle with an illness, or depression, or a life that is broken in some way. We may look at all the holiday joy and celebration, and have a difficult time embracing it all.  If you can identify with any of that, then look up—Christmas is for you!

Certainly the first Christmas wasn’t about those who had it all together. It was about good news to those who desperately needed it. It was for “those who were living in the valley of darkenss” who needed to see a great light. It was for those who deeply needed the message of “Immanuel; meaning God with us”. Christmas says, “God is here and whatever difficulty you are going through now is about to be impacted by that reality!” Merry Christmas!

Yesterday, Newsweek showed up at our house with the cover story: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage”. Religion editor Lisa Miller argues that we’re missing the intent of the Bible when we use it to justify excluding marriage for two people of the same gender. While there is lot’s to discuss here, I’m mostly concerned with her use (or misuse) of the Bible in this article.

Not long ago I wrote a research paper on Thinking Biblically and Pastorally About Homosexuality (click on the link, or go to the writing sub-page under the “Share” page on this blog). Cliffnotes: Solid Biblical thinking and pastoral love are not mutually exclusive. The paper is ok, but the annotated bibliography at the end will lead you to deeper and better resources, including a gem by John Stott on Same Sex Partnership. For a quickly accessible Biblical counter-perspective to this Newsweek piece, see Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler’s post on his blog.

Then Saul dressed David in his own (armor). David fastened on Saul’s sword over the tunic and tried walking around because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these because I am not used to them”, so he took them off. (1 Samuel 17:38-39)

Do you have any idea how insane David must have looked to the military leaders who were watching him? Men of war know how a battle should be fought. You need good armor, good weapons, a good plan and a few good men.

But they were looking at a cocky young kid with little experience in battle (against animals!), who couldn’t handle the equipment, and who didn’t understand their military strategy. However, this kid had full trust in who God was and what God could do through him.

“So he took them off” A few years ago I heard a well-known church planting expert talk about two of the great reformations of the past (The Word and The Spirit) and then he said, “The next great reformation is going to be a reformation of systems.” I have to respectfully disagree. Ministry may be served by systems, but the soul of ministry is organic. It is God taking a unique individual (you) and putting that person in a unique location ministering to unique people. We can learn general principles from others, but only you can take those principles and prayerfully and prophetically put them to work in your own situation. And sometimes, someone else’s system just won’t work for you no matter what you do.

I’ve talked to other younger planters and church leaders who are discouraged because “the experts” lead them down a road that just isn’t authentic. We try to walk around and lead the way it worked for someone else, but in our heart of hearts we know that there is no way we can be successful in our battle that way. Research and experience may say that if we do A, B, and C then we will get D, but what about when the Lord is stirring something new that doesn’t add up and that is going to take courage to walk in?

“So he took them off” David would quickly grow into a mighty warrior, giving up the sling and getting his own armor. We will grow and develop systems that serve our ministries well, too. But we can’t rely on good systems if we haven’t first allowed the Lord to inspire our passion and forge our character in the crucible of our own God-anointed and Spirit-dependent ministry.

When we just follow a method in ministry or do it like somebody (everybody) else, we…

1. Devalue who God has made us to be, and the preparation He has already taken us through.
2. Disturb the process that God wants to continue to take us through to make us mature.
3. Disbelieve God’s promise to work through us—weaknesses and all.
4. Destroy the very unique thing that God wants to accomplish through us in our future.

It isn’t wrong to find inspiration in a Godly and effective leader or ministry, but when I completely imitate that leader or ministry I have missed the point of what God wants to do in me.

In Luke 5:33ff Jesus talks about new and old wineskins. “No question”, He says, “the old is better, more mature, but the new is vital.” Jesus’ disciples didn’t do it like the Pharisees or John’s disciples. But—“they will fast”.  They (we) will grow into their own armor. They (we) will mature.

We don’t criticize those who are mature, because we aim to get there too. But if we don’t let God do something new through us, we will be ineffective. We will be walking around in somebody else’s armor, or trying to pour our new wine in someone’s old wineskins. When we are trying to lead with someone else’s anointing, we will not be prophets who are hearing and communicating God’s Word, we will instead become parasites living off of someone else’s life passion and calling.

“So he took them off” When I look at many older, effective, well-respected, and anointed individuals in ministry I realize that they “marched to the beat of their own drum” too. I know more than a few of these people who did not do ministry the way it was “supposed” to be done at the time. They refused to wear Saul’s armor—many of them paid dearly for swimming upstream. But now we all benefit from their authenticity and courage.

Can we walk in that same authenticity and courage? Are we willing to pay the price to do that? When we humbly refuse to wear armor that is not our own and graciously insist on using the tools and vision that God has equipped us with, it’s a guarantee that people will not understand. But God never called us to design our ministry so that other leaders would give us an “attaboy”; He has called us to extend His Kingdom in ways that will be most effective if we embrace His unique mark on our lives.

I was recently made aware of some hurtful actions that were attributed to me. I’m usually fairly self-aware, but though I knew that the necessary actions I was taking were not at all pleasant for the person on the other side, I had no idea of the level of pain that I caused. I still don’t know if it was words I used, an attitude I projected, or an non-compassionate spirit that was somehow manifested; in any case I can now say that I must have blown it in ways that I still can’t comprehend.

I have learned to deal with quickly making something right after sinning. That’s how I choose to live my life. It means more apologies than I would like, even to the point of embarrassment sometimes (but when you know confession has to come immediately, it becomes an encouragement not to sin, too).  I don’t like to admit it, but there are a couple of times in my life when I have been responsible for relational trauma and let it sit for far too long. But I knew what was going on, I knew how it needed to be addressed, and I knew I had to get around to fixing it. But in this case, I had no idea what was going on and now I have no idea how to fix it.

There are some things you can never take back, whether you meant to do them or not. If I drove down the street tonight and didn’t see the kid dart out into the road after a ball and then hit and killed him, I would feel terrible all my life. But I’d never be able to take it back. What if it was my brother’s kid? How would I navigate that mess? Even though I didn’t mean to do it, she’d still be dead. And every excuse or justification in the world wouldn’t bring her back; it wouldn’t matter whether she was being careless, or whether I was swerving to avoid hitting a van full of kids. Nothing could ever make it right.

When you cause that kind of hurt, even though the damage is already done and even though it won’t help, you still say you’re sorry. You do whatever you can to seek the possibility of reconciliation (Romans 12:17-18). You weep. Even if you might have been in the right, any wrong attitudes or ungodly elements that came from you in the situation need to be addressed. Jesus came to bring wholeness to broken people, and when we, as the ambassadors of the One who gives life, are a part of causing that brokenness, we need to walk in humility and brokenness in trust that the Savior will graciously touch both the offended and the offender.