Alpha & Omega

Is Christmas your favorite time of year? It is for many people, but not for me.

Don't get me wrong--I love everything about the season, including the busyness and stillness, parties and presents, family and friends, candlelight and evergreen, and all the reminders of a savior born to us.

I'm one of those strange birds who likes to see Christmas pass, because I like the thought of another new year starting out. It is the potential of there being potential. The hope of there being hope. The dream of there being dreams, all in the new year.

Without the passing of one year, there cannot be the ushering in of the next. This is true of my kids, too, as Kade turns two December 30th. I must say goodbye to my little one year-old in order for me to see my two year-old. I can't have both simultaneously.

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (see Revelation 1:8, 11). He cares about your year's beginning and end. He wants to be there in your new year. When we say goodbye to 2012, will you go into this next year with regrets? Or with potential, hope, and dreams?

Some of the best times of my life have been when I've taken time alone with the Lord to start a year. The calendar belongs to you. Take a few moments and plan some time for those potential times with family to happen. Schedule a time for those hopes to come alive and those dreams to take shape.

I'm really a summer guy--but you already know that about me. So Christmas is a reminder of all the things I can't do at this time of year. But I can plan for this next year to be even more fruitful for Christ. What are your hopes and dreams for 2013?

Good God? Merciful God?

In the aftermath of the senseless shooting in Aurora, Colorado, many people are searching for answers to the question, "Why would God let this happen?" They are actually asking how a supposedly compassionate being allow this tragedy to befall so many supposedly innocent people.

I don't pretend to speak on God's behalf or answer for Him, but this I do know. God has given us a choice to do good or evil, and too often we choose evil. Our choice to do evil affects other people.

In the midst of circumstances, God shows Himself to be compassionate and merciful. He brings comfort in response to events that cause pain. We will never fully understand Him or His ways, but the Bible gives us hope for a future without pain, without wrong choices, without evil.

A mom in Colorado named Marie wrote a blog post about her experiences from inside the theater with her two daughters the night of the shooting. In part, she wrote:

So I was there with them, fidgeting in my seat, some forty or  fifty feet away from the man with the gun. It’s still a bit surreal, but I do know that when the seemingly endless shooting started, as my girls were struggling from whatever gas or chemical had been released, and we figured out what was happening, we hit the floor. I threw myself on top of my fourteen year old who was on the end of the row, straight up the aisle from the shooter.  In that moment, as the rapid-fire shots continued, I truly thought I was going to die. And I realized that I was ready. I have put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the redeemer of my soul, and there wasn’t the slightest doubt that I would be received into heaven, not because of any good thing that I have done but because of His merciful nature and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Still, as I lay over my daughter, I began praying out loud. I don’t even remember what I prayed, but I don’t imagine it really matters. I’m sure it was for protection and peace. It drew me closer into the presence of God.

To have no fear of death is part of God's gift to us. Life's circumstances are not always of our choosing, but our responses to them are. And our good God, our merciful God, promises to be with us in the midst of life's circumstances, if we have placed our faith and trust in Him.

Please join me in praying for the families and individuals whose lives were so dramatically affected by the recent events in Colorado. And join me in trusting God for peace and security in the midst of our own life's circumstances.

Tony Dungee's Squeeze Play: Fitting In Family Time

I absolutely love being a dad. I love the thrills, the spills, and even the doctor bills. It's all part of the package and I love it all. My wife talks about the time both girls were throwing up in the middle of the night and I insisted on cleaning it up. I told Katie, "This is what I love about being a dad."

No, I'm not crazy. I just love being needed by little people who love their daddy.

I just finished recording an upcoming episode for RE:CONNECT Podcast where I interviewed another youth pastor about spending time with your kids. I'm in Nashville for a few days, helping write some Bible study curriculum for students, so spending time with my kids involves phone calls and FaceTime video calls. I also took a couple of my kids' little stuffed animals with me and have been texting pictures of them on the plane, in my hotel room, etc.

I got an encouraging email today from someone whom I care about in my ministry, and it had a link to Tony Dungee's article called "Be a Kid With Your Kids." In the article, Dungee talks about how he's had to be creative in spending time with his kids around a busy schedule. The key for him has often been being willing to do what his kids want to do.

I know parents often feel that their lives are too busy to spend much time with their children, but I want to encourage other parents to redeem ordinary time as family time. For example, inviting older children to go grocery shopping with you just so you can talk, or have them bring their social studies flashcards with them when you get work done on the car.

It isn't giving up or giving in when you settle for little moments together when longer times as a family are not possible. It's simply acknowledging that family time is worth making time for, no matter what other events are on the schedule.

May God give us wisdom in redeeming the little moments, repurposing them for time spent with our families so that we may have an impact on our children for Christ. How are you fitting in family time?

My Early Morning God

I'm getting up early twice a week these days. I've got a standing appointment with people I care about and I definitely see the arrangement as a beneficial one to me.

Sure, getting my feet to hit the floor at 5:15am isn't my idea of unbridled fun, nor do I consider myself the king of my craft. But neither of these sincerely held opinions deters me from reaching my higher goal: a 6am start time for basketball at a high school gym in South San Jose.

The only other recent appointments that have come close to raising my slumbering form anytime before the sun is up were airline flights and marriage counseling with a young guy before his work day started. That's it. I'm in no rush to shorten my sleep time for just anybody. And that has me concerned.

My heart is laid bare in light of what I currently prioritize. I am clearly saying loud and proud that the only things worthy of my early morning attention are my favorite sport, transportation, or another man's spiritual and emotional well-being.

Sure, I spend time with God every day, both in prayer and in reading His Word, but what if He were to ask for an early morning appointment with just the two of us? Would I show up? Would I even set my alarm?

Similar to my early basketball issues, I mistakenly view getting up early to spend time with God as a chore instead of a joy. Just like playing basketball with guys who are all better than me, I am tempted to view my own spiritual condition in light of how others match up. Wow, I think. I'm not as dedicated as them. Or, my love for God isn't as mature or as great as theirs. And I allow myself to get discouraged.

But I will never pursue holiness with a pure heart by viewing time with my Savior as a duty nor will I be content with my Father's view of me if I compare myself to how His other children interact with Him. Give me a heart to seek Yours, Jesus.

I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words. (Psalm 119:147 NLT)