Transforming Message of Christmas

Sometimes the euphoria of the Christmas season does not match the emotions of our heart. Perhaps events invading our personal lives make our emotional lives more like the steel gray skies of December than the bright glittering ornaments hung on a Christmas tree. Many may enter into this Christmas season with more emotional uncertainty than perhaps they have had in many years.

     Maybe personal difficulties have bruised one’s emotional psyche. A disturbing medical exam, financial uncertainty, family crisis, or the death of a friend or family member has altered a spirit of celebration transforming it into a caldron of emotional perplexity as one tries to process unfathomable news. Compounding these personal dilemmas are the national and international events announcing terrorism, death, hatred, and all sorts of unspeakable mayhem. The cascade of turmoil seems to sneer at the refrain of “peace on earth and good will to men.” How can we even mouth those words when we live in a world of pain, individually and on the international stage?

     We have the tendency to look at current history as the defining moment of all history. While our present circumstances are important, they are not empowered to process and interpret our past nor define and determine our uncertain future.  It may be true that we currently live in extremely uncertain and difficult times; however, this state of despair is not new to the planet earth. This came into sharp focus recently as I read and reflected on the words to the familiar Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” written by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

     His world had received one difficult emotional blow after another. Two years prior to writing the poem “Christmas Bells,” from which the carol is derived, his dear wife was killed in an accidental fire. Then in November 1864, his son, Charles Appleton, a Union soldier in the Civil War, was seriously wounded in the Battle of New Hope in Virginia. Longfellow was submerged in a world of grief. Compounding all of this was the seemingly endless national tragedy of the bloody Civil War. For years this war had deposited human tragedy into every community in the country. On Christmas day 1864, encompassed by a world of pain, Longfellow sat alone and penned his words of honest struggle and emotional despair.  He concluded with words of hope that assuaged his own wounded heart. Eight years later the poem he wrote was set to music by John Baptiste Calkin. Longfellow’s words, birthed in the midst of turmoil, have over the years sounded a bright word of hope in a dark world of despair.

     Longfellow wrote how that Christmas the bells announced a familiar message of “peace on earth, good-will to men.” Events in his life, however, had caused him to question that joyous message. He honestly admitted, “And in despair I bowed my head: ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said.” He reasoned, “For hate is strong, and mocks the song, Of peace on earth, good-will to men.” If he had stopped his poem there, how bleak his world would have been. Thankfully he adds, “Then peeled the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead: nor doth He sleep.’”  When he allowed his view of life to be impacted by the truth that God was not detached from human tragedy nor inactive in the lives of people his perspective changed.

     He confidently concludes his poem by writing, “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men.” That realization changed his view of life. He noted, “The world revolved from night to day.” His dark world of despair was altered by the bright hope that a living active God can bring into a life shrouded in a cloak of difficulty and uncertainty.

     Several weeks ago in Germany I met a Syrian Muslim refugee who joined the million refugees flooding into that country. To say that this man was living in a world of hurt would be an understatement. His home and business had been bombed into oblivion. He had fled the murderous intentions of political leaders and terrorists to find a safe haven in Dresden, Germany. There he heard the message from the Bible that Longfellow wrote about, “God is not dead nor does he sleep.” He learned that God sent his Son, Jesus, at Christmas. He discovered that he was so loved by God that that same Jesus came to die for him and offered him a new life – one that is eternal. He accepted that gift that God offered by His grace, believed, and is now identified as a believer in Jesus Christ. This year he sees Christmas as a believer, not as disbeliever. I saw the joy and peace in this man's face. He still lives in a world of hurt and remains submerged in difficult circumstances. He has nothing of this world's goods, but on the other hand he now has every blessing in Christ Jesus. He has a perspective that is very different from the one he once had.

     Luke records Jesus’ birth announcement made by angels saying, “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord… ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (2:10-13). There is a message that can transform even our deepest gloom into glorious hope!

Personal Christmas Greetings 2015

Christmas Greetings from Bob and Doris Reid 2015

We trust you and your family have had a good year. It has been a good year for us and one in which we praise the Lord for many of His blessings. It is hard for us to realize that it has been four years since we left the pastoral role in a local church and settled into a role of serving on a college campus at Lancaster Bible College (LBC). Much has happened in this past year and since it has been several years since we gave you an update, we decided to do a more formal summary.

     Bob continues to serve as Pastor at Large at LBC. In this capacity he spends his time divided among students, faculty, staff, administration, pastors and churches. After serving two years as Interim Chair of the Bible and Theology Department, a new chairman was hired and much of the administrative load was removed. Following this he was asked to chair several projects to rewrite and develop several documents for the college and completed them this Fall. Now he spends his time relating to students, pastors, and churches. Additionally, he preaches almost every weekend either at churches or conferences. He was able to fill the pulpit for 8 months for New Life Bible Fellowship in Oley, PA, which was without a pastor.

                After being away from our former church for almost 2.5 years, they invited us to return and teach in Adult Bible Fellowships when our schedule permits. Doris teaches about twice a month and Bob when he is not preaching elsewhere – about every six weeks. We enjoy again connecting to a congregation we deeply love and appreciate.

     Bob also writes a newspaper article every six weeks, and has been asked to Tweet (twitter.com/Bob_Reid_In_Him) and Blog (http://reidsreflection.blogspot.com/). He also enjoys reading Facebook entries of family, friends, and ministry associates from around the world – “friend” him!

          Doris continues to be busy in numerous endeavors like: ministering to students at LBC with her gift of hospitality; serving on the board of Lancaster Child Evangelism Fellowship; officiating lacrosse; engaging in a number of other volunteer opportunities at Calvary Fellowship Homes (CFH) including serving on their Strategic Planning Committee. She likes to stay busy! Probably her greatest joy is to get a call that indicates that grandchildren need babysat! She also joins Bob in working with students from LBC in a group called Generation to Generation. This pairs students from the college to older saints from CFH.    

     We celebrated or 45^th wedding anniversary this year. We were in beautiful Dresden, Germany this November with a small team from our church serving with Jeff and Anne Ingram who are planting a new church in the area. We have enjoyed short trips here and there but like to use the time off to be with our children.  

     Our children and grandchildren are doing well. Andy and Kristine are still in upstate New York where he teaches history and English in a public school and raises steers, chickens, and a large garden. Kristine is a busy homemaker and home schools 2 of her children. This year Kathryn (13) became a teenager and now attends South Lewis Middle School where her Dad teaches. She skis, reads, and loves the outdoors. Emma (10) is home schooled and enjoys ballet, crafts, and skiing. Calvin (7) is also home schooled and loves his four-wheeler, playing outside, skiing, and wrestling sisters.

   Charlotte and Jamie continue to live in the Bucks County area of PA. Charlotte teaches English part-time at Carin University and home schools the children. Jamie is Senior Enrollment Advisor for Capture Higher Education where he works with a number of universities in the Northeast region of the US. Reid (9) loves mechanics/ and reading. Meg (8) engages in sports, reading, and social life. Lewis (4) loves everything and is full of energy.  We are so thankful for our family. We enjoy times with them and wish it could be more often.

     We would love to see you and have an open guest room for your visit. We would love to hear from you too and hear what is happening in your life!

                                                                                             
                                                                                              Email: bdreid1@verizon.net  or  breid@lbc.edu

                                                             

Post Germany Reflection at Christmas

Flying back from Germany a week ago I began reflecting, processing, and focusing upon one thing I observed in the previous days. I saw the chaos of a one million refugees flooding into a country from the Middle East and many other countries of Africa. They were fleeing war, terrorists, famine, poverty, and inhuman governments. Germany is a country one half the size of Texas and yet welcoming this vast horde. This also is a country conflicted as to how to respond as opinions were divided. Yet amazingly I observed a nation responding to the plight of the refugees rather than being paralyzed by rhetoric even as they sorted out the strong differing political opinions. I noted politicians with courage directed by conviction and not political polls. I experienced many things that the media in the USA is not reporting. I saw God working.

I observed the Christian community reaching out to the refugees. The percentage of people who claim to be Christians in Germany does not begin to compare to those who profess to be Christians in the USA. Yet those Christians were stepping out by faith and not focused upon those who may or may not be a dangerous refugee. They had chosen to be ruled not by fear and hatred but by faith and love.

A many century old statement came to mind by Thomas Aquinas, "God is so powerful that He can direct any evil to a good end." In this Christmas season I am so glad that over 2,000 years ago, God led a refugee family to Egypt to flee the murderous intention of an evil political leader (Matthew 2:13-18). The result... protection of Jesus and the fulfilment of prophecy.

I am also thankful this Christmas season that a Syrian Muslim fled the murderous intentions of political leaders and as a refugee came to Dresden, Germany, heard the Gospel, believed, and was baptized as a believer in Jesus Christ. This year he sees Christmas as a believer not as disbeliever. To see the joy and peace in this man's face while having nothing of the world's goods, but on the other hand now having every blessing in Christ Jesus, gives another perspective on the issue of refugees around the world. God not only rules, He overrules the evil intentions of Satanic forces.

In these unsettled days when the Bible honestly says that "in the last days evil men will wax worse and worse" (2 Timothy 3:13), Christians need to process events from a Divine view of history.  Present history does not determine ultimate history. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is triumphant over all false religions and world powers. He is the One who wins the battle for world domination (Revelation 19). May Christians live for the glory of God in this unsettled world walking by faith and not by sight or fear-filled rhetoric.

Looking forward by faith to the day when "peace on earth and good will toward men" will be fully realized.

A Tale of Two Tables

The latest glossy magazines arriving at our home are filled with ideas about decorating and cooking for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. Elegant table settings are featured with a noticeable absence of people at the table so as not to disturb the ambiance. Suggestions are offered to host and hostesses about how to have just the right look for the table setting. The table decor is even broken down into categories and themes so that just the right atmosphere is created. Every time I see these pictures I wonder if they ever envision any children sitting at the table. Perhaps they have made the assumption that children will be relegated to a folding table safely separated from the adult’s table. Perhaps it is wise to station the children’s table at a distance of at least four feet or whatever is necessary to avoid a glob of gravy covered mashed potatoes launched from their table. However, if they are assuming that children will be at these elaborate tables, what kind of children are they expecting? Are they hoping some agency will provide child “doubles” to sit at their holiday tables looking good and manifesting manners beyond their years? Somehow the ornate table arrangements gracing the covers of these magazines never seem to fit the scene at our family’s Thanksgiving table. Mind you we are a step above what may have occurred at a Viking’s banquet table. But I think we hold the record for major spills at a table before anyone is seated!

     As a child I remember two aunts and their two very different holiday tables. Keep in mind both of these dear ladies were outstanding Irish cooks. They both believed in providing abundant amounts of mouthwatering delectable options. They could even make green vegetables and assorted squashes appealing to the most discriminating child’s palette. However, one aunt’s dinners always stood out to me. Her table would never make the cover of one of the glossy magazines. She provided all that was necessary but never focused upon the frills. Her decorating approach was rather utilitarian – what was on a plate was to be eaten not looked at. She thought candles only took up space on the table where another bowl of goodies could reside. Therefore candles never appeared at the table unless it was on the top of a cake to commemorate a recent or coming birthday. The plates, flatware, and glasses did not all match, but were all clean and functional. With three rambunctious boys in her house, it was a wonder that any glasses and plates had survived! This is what I remember most about the day at her table. When we arrived, all she was doing was dropped, hands were wiped on her stained white apron, her arms wrapped around me in a bear hug, and her arthritic hands ruffled my hair. Her laughter made me laugh for no reason at all. Honestly, after such a reception, what was on the table was even more delicious because she made it.

     My other aunt’s holiday table was very different. Walking into her house you were greeted with smells that immediately engaged the salivary glands. My uncle would greet us and take our coats and seat us in the living room that looked into the dining room. I could spy the table. Candles were lit. The Irish bone china was at each place setting along with the crystal stemware. Silverware surrounded the place settings and I sat in the living room trying to recall which fork and spoon I was to use first and when. A Thanksgiving bouquet was in the middle of the table. It was gorgeous – in fact it now reminds me of some of those glossy magazine covers. I could hear my aunt in the kitchen, and I think I could hear her say, “Hello.” But I knew better that to walk into her kitchen and get in the way. She had a Thanksgiving meal on her mind and bustled about as a woman on a mission. Honestly, her meals were absolutely delicious too. Somehow the impression of the visit was one of appreciation and less of affection.

     The Bible records Jesus impression of a dinner where he was an honored guest. In Luke 10:38-42 we read of the two sisters that prepared the meal, Mary and Martha. Martha was a woman on a mission – she had a meal to prepare and that was no small task in days lacking basic cooking conveniences and where everything was made from scratch. Mary was also on a mission – she had a person to focus on who was normally surrounded by a crush of people keeping him distant from her. But now she had the privilege of being close to him, sitting at his feet, and listening to teaching that was so different from that which she would hear from other rabbis. Mary’s mission annoyed Martha. The tension became so intense that Martha asked Jesus to intervene and demand that Mary “get with the mission” of serving a meal and lay aside doing nothing but hanging around with Jesus. Instead of intervening, Jesus commended Mary for her mission of being with him and listening to his teachings – teaching which had the capacity of changing her life.

     Jesus made it clear, Martha’s meal distracted her from what was important. Jesus concluded that her mission resulted in her “being anxious and troubled about many things.” Mary on the other hand honored Jesus by paying undivided attention to him and the things he had to share about life. Jesus said, “Mary has chosen the good portion.” Sometimes our doing can keep us from what is most important, focusing on and enjoying people.

     I deeply loved my two aunts. They taught me a lesson about life as they lovingly served their Thanksgiving extravaganza. The meal is not nearly as important as the people who come to the meal. You can prepare a dinner that is fit to make the cover of a glossy magazine and it will be appreciated by your guests. A better alternative is to prepare a dinner that will be more than a meal. It will be a memory. That happens when our main focus is upon the people who have joined us for our special celebrations.     

Time Keeps on Slippin' Into the Future

            The Steve Miller Band sings in their song Fly Like an Eagle, “Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' Into the future.” We really don’t need a song to remind us of that reality. Every year as one’s birthday rolls around one is reminded that another year has finished or begun. It all depends upon one’s perspective. The pessimist looks at a birthday as a countdown to the end of life. The optimist sees this anniversary as the launch into a year of new possibilities. Needless to say, it does mark that time is marching on and another notch has been made in the calendar of life.

            I just passed another age milestone a few days ago and have been reminded with cards and Facebook greetings that I have not gotten younger – as if my body needed to be reminded! Then I came across this thought in a devotional booklet that Bob Boardman, who at age 59, wrote, “If the 70 years of a normal life span were squeezed into a single 24-hour day, it would now be 8:30 in the evening in my life. . . . Time is slipping by so rapidly.” Well, I am older than 59, so I assume for me it’s beyond 8:30 and close to my bedtime!

            The Bible gives a number of reminders about the brevity of life too. The Psalmist David writes, “Each man’s life is but a breath” (Psalm 39:5). The New Testament writer James agrees by saying, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). These truths certainly smack against the thought we often have about our invincibility – a thought very keen when we are younger but less so as we age. Perhaps that is why Peter pictures humans this way, "All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall” (1 Peter 1:24). He either is referring to or drawing the same conclusion as the Psalmist (103:15-16), “As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.”

            How should one think in view of these realities? Thomas Manton concludes, "A man's greatest care should be for that place where he dwelleth longest; eternity should be his scope." This is great advice for people who are designed by God to be eternal.

            In what way should our perspective be altered? Our living would be adjusted. Paul writes, “Therefore be careful how you walk [live], not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Too often the hours and days of our life are squandered in trivial pursuits rather than in wise endeavors. Does it really matter that we rush to someone’s Facebook page or their latest Tweet to see where they are, what they are doing, or what they had for breakfast? Yet often hours are consumed in technology that has little significant impact in one’s life.

            Perhaps where we invest our lives needs to be altered. Jesus advises people, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). On another occasion Jesus shared a parable with a man who was squabbling with his brother over an inheritance. The story talks about a man who could only think about amassing stuff on earth. Jesus says that man was a fool and concludes, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 21). Investments reflect our hearts and reveal how focused we are on eternity. Many relationships have been damaged by persons pursuing the American dream only to discover that in the process that have created a nightmare for themselves. Our mates and our children are more likely to remember the time we invested in them rather than the trinkets for which we worked so hard to buy them.

            Over the years I have planned hundreds of funerals with families who had experienced the death of a loved one. I sat with them and heard the stories they told about their family member. Rarely can I recall those grieving loved ones talking about material possessions. They spoke about things that had made an eternal impact in their lives like love, support, care, and many other things that money cannot buy.

            Rick Warren wisely concluded in his book The Purpose Driven Life, “You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.” Remember, “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, into the future!”