Just thinking about...

The Christmas Holy-Day

Practically everybody in the United States celebrates Christmas in some way. Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, and Savior of the world. Others may celebrate a day off, family, giving, peace, parties, eating, or increased sales.  The point is that everybody celebrates something on this holiday, but Christians consider it to be a Holy-Day.

It is holy to us because it is the celebration of the Incarnation. The Incarnation is when God the Son became Jesus the baby in the manger. It’s a pretty outrageous statement, but we believe that the God who created the universe came to earth as Jesus. He was born the same way we are, through a birth canal. He lived with the same temptations we experience, the same hurts and hungers, the same types of people we all encounter. But Jesus never sinned. Never.

The Perfect Jesus gave Himself on the cross as a perfect sacrifice to make us right with God. His death on the cross was to pay the penalty for the sin of the world and only God could do that. He satisfied the wrath of God on sin. And the resurrection proved that He was who He said He was, and that He had done what He came to do. Through faith (trust) in Him and what He did, we can have a relationship with the Creator God.

And the beginning of the process of world redemption was put into motion with a baby born to a young woman in a tiny city in modern day Israel. And we celebrate that annually. Christmas.

Pretty amazing isn’t it?

But that’s our faith. That’s where we Christians go “all in” on life. Using a gambling metaphor may be a bit much, but everyone has “bet” their lives on some worldview; and Christians are wagering our very existence on Christianity being historical and eternal truth. I was an adult when I “went all in” for Jesus and I have never regretted it. He has literally changed my life in wonderful ways.

If you’re a Christ Follower, Christmas would be a great time to thank God for what He did in Jesus. If you’re a Christian who has somehow lost the way, or you’ve become disconnected from God or a church family, God allows do-overs and says "Come on home. I still love you and have great plans for your life". There are some wonderful church fellowships that really know Jesus out there. You may have to look, but they’re out there.

If you’re a spiritual explorer who hasn’t committed to a faith perspective, please consider Jesus. I would ask you (please) don’t limit your knowledge of Jesus to the Christians you know. We’re a messed up, but forgiven bunch! Consider the Jesus of the Bible. Especially the Jesus that you find in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John in the Bible. Just read about Him. Ask God to show you truth. And if you need somebody to talk to, I’ll buy the coffee and promise to listen as well as talk. cbradford@riverbluff.org

Or you could come to one of the Riverbluff Church Christmas services: Christmas Eve at 6 or Christmas day at 10:30. Come as you are. You’ll be welcome here!

Merry Christmas and God bless you!

Hopeful anniversary

Nine years ago this morning, I was in the Intensive Care unit at Summerville Medical. I wasn’t sure whether I would live or die; and, I was afraid and hurting physically. It is quite a vivid memory. It’s an unusual anniversary to be thinking about on this beautiful low-country morning, but it is one that was a defining moment in my life.

I have something called small blood vessel disease which means just what it implies: I have many blood vessels that are unusually small, and if my blood pressure or cholesterol goes up, one of those little vessels could shut down on itself stopping the flow of blood. Nine years ago, one or more small vessels shut down in the left Pons of my brain and that shut down the flow of blood to my right side. It’s not the clot type of stroke but it did make me immobile for several months.

The initial goal after a stroke is to live; the next goal is to re-train your brain through therapy and other treatments. Some people recover, and some people don’t. I’m one of those who recovered, thanks to some wonderful people at HealthSouth and my doctors. I will forever have a great debt to these folks.

On this anniversary of the stroke, I am reminded that it was a defining moment for me because it pointed out areas of life that needed to be tended to with greater intensity: physical, relational, professional, and spiritual. And it got my attention in all those ways.

One of the primary things it did was to strengthen my hope. Tim Keller says that we underestimate the effect of our “believed in future” on the way we live our lives. He’s right. Covey's practice of “Begin with the End in Mind” is actually the only way to have a true north in life. Unless there is clarity on the ending, the way to get there is muddled. How does it all end? What happens when we die? What is the purpose of my life? Unless one has an answer to these questions, one simply goes from day to day or goal to goal without any real direction.

When the uncertainty and pain and disabling effect of my stroke occurred, I found the only place to stand was in my hope in the God who is good. The God who has restored me to a relationship with Him through Jesus has a future planned that is Biblically termed "a new heaven and a new earth". It is a wonderful, indescribable future where intimacy with God is the most compelling feature.  And if I lived, that hope, that future, would be realized one day; and if I died, that hope would be immediate. Because of my hope, I was ready to go and ready to stay.

Now, through the Holy Spirit, I have the beginnings of that intimacy which will one day be fully realized. In the nine years since the stroke, I have rediscovered the awesome life changing power of Hope. I’m grateful to be here for sure, but I am most hopeful for the hope that I have in the God who is good and faithful and who holds me in His hand. And the recent death of my mother is not as hard to bear because she had the same Hope.

Just thinking…