Year-Round Christmas Music

I love Christmas music. It seems like every year I start listening to it earlier and earlier. Next thing I know, I will be listening in July—which is not a bad idea if you ask me.

I have often wondered why we don’t listen to Christmas music year round. It makes sense that we only sing about rocking around a Christmas tree when we put the tree up. But does it really make sense to only sing about the birth of our Savior one season of the year?

The lyrics to some of the most beloved Christmas hymns are packed full of truths about God that are true every Sunday. We don’t sing “In Christ Alone” only on Easter Sunday. Why not sing “Joy to the World” in May?

Perhaps part of the reason that we only sing Christmas music in December is that we only think about the incarnation when the Christmas tree goes up. I know I am prone to this. I get excited about all things Christmas, and Jesus coming to earth to save sinners like me is just a portion of the excitement—not the reason for the excitement. But really, it should floor me. It should humble me. It should make me thankful. It should make me joyful.

God came to earth.

And not in fanfare and bright lights, like our Christmas ideas so often make us think. He came as a baby. He came in humility. He came to a dirty manger. And this is our great hope. It should make us sing. Christmas shows us that the Cross is coming; that our salvation is coming. Without Christmas, there is no Cross.

Now I like some good, old-fashioned “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” but nothing make my heart sing like the words “born that men no more may die!” I am all for the traditional, light-hearted seasonal music. But that is all that is, really. It’s about a season, not an event.

So what does it really matter if I listen to “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” in June? It should be my heart’s cry as I wait for the second-coming of my Risen King.

Interview with Carolyn McCulley

Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley is one of the most helpful books I have read in the last year. If you haven't read it yet, you should. Last week CBMW published an interview that I did with her. You can read the interview here:

Part 1 and Part 2

Enjoy!

Zombie and My Neighbor

What does it mean to love my neighbor? How far would I go? Would I put myself in danger? Would I love only people who looked like me, or would I be willing to interact with people who looked a little different than me? A couple of weekends ago my husband and I were in Minneapolis. We were there primarily to visit my new nephew and brother and sister-in-law. While there we were able to attend my former church and hear a really convicting message on Luke 10:25-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Many of us have heard this passage taught on multiple occasions. I know I have. But the main thrust of the sermon was not “go do good things,” primarily. The pastor taught us that since Christ has changed our hearts we should be driven to do good for others in light of the immense good that has already been accomplished for us through Christ. And the most amazing thing about this parable is that the Jewish people thought no Samaritan could do any good, let alone be saved.

I left encouraged. I left convicted. I left excited to live out the Gospel so that others could know the worth of Christ. And then on our way to Chipotle we got stuck in the middle of a zombie night in downtown Minneapolis. Needless to say, we were a little freaked out. We quickly drove through the zombies and made our way back to my brother’s house. But as we talked about it later we were struck with the tremendous spiritual realities surrounding us in zombie-land.

There I was confronted with a direct, practical, and very real way to love my neighbor and all I could feel was fear. Should it really frighten me as much as it did?

Yes and no. But it shouldn’t really surprise me.

In one sense it was mass chaos, and chaos always seems a little frightening—especially when blood-covered people are coming up to cars. But in reality these zombie-dressed neighbors are only wearing on their sleeves what is already in their hearts. We all are. Zombies are dead people. And apart from Christ, all people are zombies at heart. The fact is most of the time they cover up the fact that they are dead-men-walking with clothes and an act that makes them look just like you and me.

Loving my neighbor doesn’t mean I have go out looking for a zombie fest in order to practically live out Luke 10. But it does mean having the discernment to see the zombie talking to me everyday at work, or at the store, or in my family, and not running from them in fear. But rather pointing them to the only One who can truly bring them to life again.

Abortion and Women's Rights

I know it has been pretty quiet around here lately. I am still trying to figure out how to be a new wife, church member, employee, and friend; and then fit in other things (like blogging). I have a TON of ideas in my head, but they haven't made it to paper yet. I promise they will. One idea did make it to paper (or I guess I should say, the idea made it to the computer). I wrote a post for CBMW this week on abortion and women's rights. It is called Life-Giving is a Woman's Issue.

Every day on my way home from work I drive past the local abortion clinic. I used to do it because it was the quickest way home. Now I am reminded to pray everyday at 5:15 when I am driving by it. The rights of the unborn are something that we should all be concerned with. As women we are called to be life-givers, not life-takers. My prayer for the women who enter the clinic, and everyone else inside, is that God would open their eyes to the horrors of abortion and that their would no longer be a need for the abortion clinic. Until then, I will keep driving by and praying.

You can read my post here.

Tozer on the Cross

I read a lot of A.W. Tozer books in college. I was so impacted by his work that I even did a portion of my senior writing project on his life and ministry. The other day I was reminded of one of my favorite books by him, The Radical Cross. This book is a compilation of things he wrote specifically on the cross of our Christ. I read the book the summer before my senior year in college as I prepared to lead a residence hall of women, and it changed me. It's hard to even pick a section of the book that is most powerful. It's just dripping with wonder and reverence for the cross. Below is the section that I read to my residence hall women at the beginning of the semester. It hits you hard, but sometimes a two by four to the head is what we need to remind us of our need to be awestruck by the cross.

"Though the cross of Christ has been beautified by the poet and the artist, the avid seeker after God is likely to find it the same savage implement of destruction it was in the days of old. The way of the cross is still the pain-wracked path to spiritual power and fruitfulness.

So do not seek to hide from it. Do not accept any easy way. Do not allow yourself to be patted to sleep in a comfortable church, void of power and barren of fruit. Do not paint the cross nor deck it with flowers. Take it for what it, as it is, and you will find it the rugged way to death and life. Let it slay you utterly."

SBTS Panel on the Trinity

Sorry I have been so quiet lately. It has been a hectic few weeks around here with school, work, and church. So the blog has been low priority. Plus I did some writing work for the Seminary that I wanted to point you too. Southern Seminary and CBMW co-sponsored a discussion on gender and the Trinity a few weeks ago. I had the pleasure of the attending and covering the panel for the seminary paper and for Gender Blog. Drs. Bruce Ware and Gregg Allison were the panelists, and Dr. Randy Stinson (President of CBMW and Dean of the School of Church Ministries) moderated. It was an excellent discussion. I was struck again by how clear the Scriptures are in not only the doctrine of the Trinity, but gender roles as well.

You can read my overview of the event here.

And listen to the audio here.

Enjoy!

Be Patient With Them All

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”—1 Thessalonians 5:14

I have heard this verse many times, but it was not until I began memorizing it for my biblical counseling class this semester that the words, “be patient with them all” struck me. Why would Paul tell the Thessalonians (and us) to be patient with people in these circumstances?

Notice his commands: admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak. If you have spent any amount of time ministering to people in these situations you will know that there are times where patience is greatly needed. Perhaps you are dealing with a discouraged person who every time you talk to them always seems to dwell on the pain and turmoil. Patience will help draw them to the Father who can (and will) heal the pain. Perhaps you are discipling a weaker sister who consistently battles sin. Patience will help you be a grace bearer to her. Or maybe you have had enough of the roommate who never seems to do anything around the apartment except sleep, eat, and make a mess. Losing control over her idleness and laziness will not spur her on to responsibility. Sometimes these circumstances do provide more opportunity for frustration than patience. But frustration is the opposite of patience. And often this will only exasperate hurting and struggling people.

Here in the middle of a verse on discipleship Paul is discipling us. Even when we are the ones helping, we must understand that we have not arrived spiritually. We need constant reminders to be patient, kind, and compassionate to hurting people. Patience is what will make all of the previous commands stick, because patience is directly at the heart of Jesus. He is always patient with the struggling believer who is stuck in the pit. And he is always patient with us, even when we shake our fists at him.

Often we like to talk about discipleship as a fun and lighthearted endeavor relegated to college ministries and accountability groups. But true discipleship is never easy. Fighting sin with another believer takes work, and more importantly it takes the Holy Spirit. The command to be patient is not something we can do on our own. Have you ever tried to be patient on your own only to be met with your inability? Only Christ can give us the grace to live with our brothers and sisters in grace and understanding. And only Christ can be the true means of change for the idle, fainthearted, and weak.

I am thankful that I am memorizing this verse this semester, primarily because I need to be regularly reminded to be patient. It is a great need in my life. But more importantly, I need a greater heart for the struggling believer, because in reality I am no different than them. May we all learn what it means to be patient with one another, and thus point our brothers and sisters to the most patient One of all—our Christ.