My Cleveland Browns are on a three-game winning streak.  Too bad we lost ten of the eleven previous games.  Past mistakes make a difference for the current season, but the three-game streak leads us to look forward to next season.

During a losing streak we tend to present scenarios that would have made the negative outcome more favorable.  If only we had a better coach.  If only we had more than half of our team returning from last season.  If only the color of our helmets matched the name of our team.  Things beyond our control have made this a tough season.

The teaching series for The Gate in January is called “If”.  When things don’t go the way we planned in other areas of life we start in with the if only’s.  What once were dreams are transformed into excuses.  If only we could do the amazing things Jesus did.  If only I had more abilities.  If only we had a vision for a Christian community that was more attainable.  If only God had interest in what we are doing.

It’s time to transform the excuses back into dreams, back into the promises from Jesus that got us moving in the right direction.

As the Browns are looking forward to a promising fresh start next year, let’s allow God’s promises to inspire us to continue to dream about the vision of the church community he called us to become.

We gave out around 25 dozen cookies to our neighbors around the office in Columbiana last evening.  We went to both homes and businesses just to wish them a Merry Christmas and to let them know we’re nearby.  It was great to see the smiles.  It was great to let them know that we’re around offering something for nothing.

Pretty cool idea, huh?  It’s yet another small reminder of the awesome something we get for free; forgiveness of all we’ve ever done wrong and the offer of real life with the God who loved us so much he sent his Son into our neighborhood – no matter where we live.

Have a great Christmas.

Zach, my six-year-old, is living the Christmas dream right about now.  He’s enjoying every second of the excitement.  We own a copy of the movie “The Polar Express” on DVD.  In that movie, the main character is a boy who has begun to doubt the existence of Santa Clause.  In his dream he is taken by train, with many other kids, to see Santa Claus at the North Pole on Christmas Eve.  The boy, at first, couldn’t hear the bells from Santa’s sleigh – an indication that he no longer believed in the jolly old guy.  No worries, though.  He heard the bell again by the end of the movie.

Zach has a bell that looks like the one in the movie.  I picked it up and pretended that I couldn’t hear it (because adults can’t, even the ones that used to be able to).  Zach was so excited because he could.  I told him that makes Santa very happy.

Don’t lose your faith in Jesus.  Newly-saved people are like kids who anticipate what their lives will bring them.  When do we lose that?  A renewed faith makes Jesus very happy.  You, too, can keep your spiritual journey alive . . . if you just believe.

Yesterday was a great time of worship at The Gate.  Pastor Ry and Heather Torhan did an amazing job putting together the short play that was done near the end of worship by our kids.  Fitting in with our Christmas theme along the lines of the movie A Charlie Brown Christmas, the children acted out the nativity scene narrated by Linus of the Peanuts gang using the audio from the movie.  Other than Ry’s mad search for the lost baby Jesus during the morning teaching and the young sheep’s inability to fight the temptation to sheer themselves of the cottony wardrobe provided by Heather, the morning went without a hitch.

Kim Bennett and the worship team outdid themselves with music that included the old favorite “O Holy Night” and a newer take on “The Little Drummer Boy,” accented by the more than competent Jeff Worona on drums.

What will be remembered and celebrated most about our Christmas celebration is the spiritual rebirth of two people.  The observation was set before the congregation that we can’t truly experience Immanuel (“God with us”) if we don’t accept Jesus into our hearts, and that he’ll be with us no matter what happens from now on.  Two people are literally in their first full day of eternal life.  Well done.

For those who over this past year have decided put your trust in the true Light that brings light to everyone: Enjoy your first real Christmas.

Great idea from wifey.  Vanda would like to have as many cookies baked by people from the Gate as possible so that we can bring the to homes near our office to wish them a Merry Christmas next Wednesday evening, December 23.  We talked about it briefly last Sunday.  Vanda will have more info about it at worship this Sunday.

If you’re not around Sunday and are interested, email me at: dave@gatechurchlife.org.  I’ll make sure you are fully informed.

Zach, my kindergarten kid, had his first solo Christmas shopping experience last week.  Vanda gave him money because his school provided a little shop with inexpensive things for the students to buy for their loved-ones.  Zach took to it nicely.  In fact, a little too nicely.  He ran off the school bus and up the steps to our home to show Vanda the wrapped gift he had purchased for her.  It was reminiscent of an early scene in the movie Ace Ventura, where the pet detective (Jim Carey) disguised himself as a UPS guy.  He delivered a package marked “fragile”, but dropped and kicked it several times – accompanied by the sound of shattering glass.

Apparently, Zach’s gift was a mug (but don’t tell Zach that we know).  He’s still proud of his accomplishment and even insists that Vanda open it before Christmas.  The joy of giving is in the boy.  I only hope he’s not too disappointed when Vanda opens a broken Christmas gift.

The gift has no less value to Vanda, even though it’s broken.  That’s just like God.  He wants us to be as excited as Zach when we offer him the gift of ourselves, even if the gift is broken.  Actually, broken gifts are the only ones he accepts.

It doesn’t matter that the gift isn’t perfect.  The last thing Vanda needs is another mug.  The extreme value is found in her boy’s love for her.

 ”I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.”

Psalm 51:17, The Message

We passed a billboard while in the car last week, and my daughter, Jessica, commented about what it said.  It read: “I miss hearing you say ‘Merry Christmas’”, and it was presented as a note from Jesus.  Jessica asked me if Jesus really said that.  I told her that, indeed, he had not.  The sentiment behind the message was honorable.  We need to be unashamed to share our belief in Jesus as God in the flesh.  Other people’s right to their faith doesn’t preclude us from expressing ours.

This came to my heart today because I was in a discussion group this moring and Chris Drombetta, the worship leader at Old North Church, asked us what we felt about the same billboard. The common sentiment was that we need to be careful about how we present Jesus to the world.  What if Jesus really doesn’t think that way?  What if Jesus sees the idea of Christmas as tarnished out of recognition by consumerism and wants to create a new way to celebrate his coming to earth?  I’m not suggesting that he is; I’m stating that I don’t know.  (By the way, God didn’t institute Christmas as a holiday in the first place; people did.)

Please don’t get me wrong.  We are big fans of the Christmas season in our home.  What is at stake here is the absolute, consistent and determined effort of God’s people to separate our desires from His, to be as clear as we can about what Jesus said and what we are saying.

To presume to put words into Jesus’ mouth is something I’m not willing to do.  So, I’ll stick to quoting Jesus on the things he actually said and let the Spirit of God elaborate as he wishes.

I meet with a group of pastors every Thursday morning at 6 am (bleck!).  The group is great, but the time still takes a bit of getting used to.  We meet to discuss a book by Reggie McNeil called Missional Renaissance.  It brings up great discussions from a group that is represented by many different church backgrounds.

Yesterday, one of the guys questioned why we need to have one prominent leader for each group of believers, as we are accustomed to in our church settings with the head pastor.  A resulting line of thought is what inspires this blog.  There are too many pastors and church leadership who know the word intellectually, but not practically.  They have the brain part but not the heart part.  My concern was that there are also pastors and church leaders who have the heart part but not the brain part; they want to experience God without as much of an emphasis on knowing who he is through learning as much as they can about him in the Bible.  It seems that each of us naturally leans in one direction or the other and each imbalance is equally detrimental to our spiritual journeys.

My leaning has traditionally been toward the intellectual side.  When times get stressful, I don’t trust as much in Jesus ability to take care of me as I do in my striving to figure things out about life for myself.  God is the Revealer of Truth, but he is equally Father who wants me to experience life with him.

We need both our emotion and our intellect working together equally to live life to its fullest.  Whichever way you lean in the heart/head conflict, be aware of it and do something about it.

(P.S. – remember to wear Browns/Steelers stuff this Sunday, since they play on Thursday!)