Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009!

“Out with the old, in with the new” is the cry I’ve heard on December 31 for as long as I can remember.

Today, it makes a lot of sense to me.  In fact, I’m convinced that GOD intended to give us these natural ‘breaks’ (He may not have invented our modern calendar, but He had enough to say to Israel about their “first month” and “first day” for me to know the importance of such occasions.)

So, whether 2008 was a great year for you personally (we had plenty of ‘highs’ at CLC and in our personal lives) or a year that you wouldn’t care to repeat (we also had some stressful moments, corporately, and, at least in my family, with surgeries & hospital stays for both my wife and my daughter – I’m typing this from her room at Silver Cross, where she’ll welcome the New Year) – today we must say ‘goodbye’!  Thank God for the good; thank Him even more that the bad is over….but it’s time to move on!

And Hello, 2009 – a new year so full of promise – with nothing but blank pages of potential awaiting us!  Personally, I’m excited about a New Year…excited about the “In God We Trust” series that continues this Sunday (it’s not too late to invite a friend)…excited about our “First Love Conference” with new guests like  Ashmont Hill (may be their first visit to CLC, but these young people are gaining a big following with their anointed praise & worship music) and Andy Thompson, whose spiritual heritage is incredible, AND longtime CLC favorites like Bishop Joseph Garlington and Prophet Lloyd Bustard…excited about our vision to launch another campus in ’09….excited about what God has in store for CLC!

So take a moment with me today, wherever you are, to say goodbye to 2008 and hello to 2009!

Thanks for the prayers!

I really do appreciate all the prayers that went up for my daughter’s surgery this morning (I’m also blown-away by the effectiveness of social networking – I posted on my Facebook page as well, and I heard from people in India, Kenya, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Washington, Indiana, and Illinois within minutes – wow!) – Jen is now in her own room (#6103 at Silver Cross Hospital for you locals) and the surgeon said everything went very well through the surgery and he doesn’t anticipate any complications.  Praise Jesus!

Say a prayer, please

I was up at 5am today to drive my daughter, Jen to Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, where she is undergoing surgery this morning to remove a herniated disc in her back.  That’s a little disconcerting for her, but for Chris and me as well – so if you read this on Monday morning, say a prayer for Jen and her surgeon.  Thanks much – I’ll keep you posted.

Sunday night reflections

Sitting here on the couch nursing a headace and a sore throat from yelling so much today, I’m still thankful for the last Sunday of 2008:

• attendance was waaaay up from the previous few ‘holiday’ weekends, with standing-room-only at our 10am service in Tinley Park!
• Pastor Dan reports another great day at our Shorewood campus with good attendance & altar response
• Dale Van Steenis was our special guest at the South Bend campus today – he’s not just a member of our Board of Directors; Dale has this church in his heart!
• Worship at all 3 services in Tinley was inspired! Thanks, Jon Jones and your whole team, for leading us into the Presence again & again!
• I’m fired-up about this new series, and I’m telling you now: next Sunday is going to be even better – get everyone you know here to hear “Nine to Five”, because God’s Word has a lot to say about our jobs!
• Don’t forget: we’re going to PRAY personally for each person who’s looking for a job next Sunday!
• I heard some neat stories in the lobby today about relational Christmases enjoyed by CLCers – keep ‘em coming (leave your story as a comment below)
• Hey, did you hear that YOUR GIVING to Advent Conspiracy at CLC enabled us to provide 5 more wells in Peru AND a month’s supply of food for our Food Pantry at CLC-Shorewood AND bless the community efforts of “Together We Cope” & “The Salvation Army” AND put a smile on the face of several children/families who might not have had a Christmas otherwise?  Thanks, CLC!!!
• Finally (sniff, sniff): I don’t have to worry about da Bears affecting Sunday morning attendance again for at least 9 months.  (And to think they have no one to blame but themselves….)

Can I get a witness?

The last of our family gatherings for Christmas 2008 is now history (there were 3 of them, but who’s counting?)….all the beautiful wrappings are now in the trash….the sumptuous meals (in our case, turkey, ham, lasagna, and Italian sausage) have been reduced to leftovers….and the female members of the household are out buying Christmas wrap at drastically-reduced prices for next Christmas as I write this.

But the preacher in me is wondering about the last 4 Sundays we spent at CLC, dealing with a relational Christmas, and my curiosity is high: did any CLCer have opportunity to apply the lessons we learned about forgiving those who’ve hurt us or about face-to-face encounters to initiate forgiveness in those we’ve hurt? As the old-timers used to say from the pulpit, ‘can I get a witness’?

I’d love to hear your story about your relational Christmas.  If you don’t want to go ‘public’, you can submit a comment below anonymously.  But my prayer has been that this would be your best relational holiday ever, so I really would like to know.  Can I get a witness?

Ask the Pastor

Jeff from our South Bend campus asked about the account in Judges 11:30-40 , specifically, ‘did Jephthah offer his own daughter as a sacrifice to the Lord?’

This is one of those oft-asked questions that probably can never be settled this side of heaven, but you asked, so I’ll give my humble opinion.  I will admit upfront that my opinion is biased because of my own theology; i.e., my understanding of God’s nature is that He would not receive a burnt offering of anyone’s child as an acceptable sacrifice.

So with that prejudice driving my study, I can’t help but notice verse 37 and verse 38 both say that Jephthah’s daughter and her friends bewailed her virginity, not her death. Even verse 39 (at least in the NKJV, which is my favorite study Bible) indicates that her father carried out his vow and simply says, “she knew no man”. So my personal opinion is that her father did not kill her as a burnt-offering, but that she remained an unmarried virgin all of her life as a result of his rash vow.

Having said all of that, I will tell you that there are scholars who disagree with me and believe that Jephthah did exactly what he vowed and offered her up as a sacrifice.  Like so many of these thorny questions in Scripture, you really are free to interpret this for yourself.

Hope that helps a bit.  Now, what would YOU like to Ask the Pastor?

Merry Christmas, one and all!

It seems like a blur of activity to get here, but before it’s over, I want to wish each CLCer (and my readers) a very blessed relational Christmas!

Jen & I drove more than 7 hours (instead of the usual 4h, 15m) through the snow to get to ‘Gramma’s house’ near Detroit, but we arrived safely and now we’ve already enjoyed a special Christmas Eve feast, the annual gift-opening tradition, and Christmas breakfast – and soon we’ll be leaving for Christmas dinner with more family (is there a ‘food’ theme here, or is just in my head?)

Meanwhile, I heard great reports from both Shorewood and Tinley Park about the Christmas Eve services and that there were even salvation decisions and recommitments to Christ!  Thanks, Pastors Doug & Dan, for leading the way!

Stay safe and don’t forget the main reason for the season: Christ is born!  Merry Christmas, one and all!

Economic woes = opportunity!

I’ve been working on the next series for the last several days, and I’ve got to tell you: I really believe the Lord has given me a ‘rhema’ word for this time!

I’m not trying to hype you; I believe this next month can truly make a difference in the lives of many people, both here at CLC AND in our sphere of influence within the community.  So I’m urging you to invite, invite, invite people to attend CLC - especially since practically everyone you know is being affected by the economy right now – and God really does have a Word for us about this.

Here’s the series schedule again (Tinley Park and Shorewood campus; South Bend will be later, so stay tuned):

• December 28 – “Whose Financial Crisis?”
• January 4 – “Nine to Five”
• January 11 – “Your Personal Bailout”
• (January 18 we’ll enjoy our First Love Conference)
• January 25 – “A REAL Stimulus Package”

Never forget: “IN GOD WE TRUST” – invite someone today!

My Bible is STILL talking…

One of the things I love most about Scripture is that it is a living book – no matter how many times you read it, there’s always something new!  That was my experience in my devotions this morning when I read Acts 24:25-27.  It’s a familar story to Bible readers, and we’ve probably all heard sermons about “a more convenient season”.

But what I never noticed before was the last verse; namely, that Paul was left in prison for 2 more years!  Here’s what that spoke to me:

• sometimes I may be in situations that make no sense (why would God want an Apostle to spend two full years in prison instead of being free to establish churches?)
• how do I react in those circumstances?  (something tells me Paul didn’t stress about it….I know later he wrote several books of the Bible from a prison in Rome, so I’m guessing he found something productive to do in this prison, too)
• My job is simply to trust God with the details of my life!

Don’t know if this spoke to anyone besides me, but it sure gave me pause to reflect today.  I’m learning that it’s not all about me, and that God knows what He’s doing, so I should just trust & obey.  How ’bout you?

Sunday night reflections

Today was one of the coldest Sundays I ever remember as a pastor, and one of the easiest, since I only preached one time, instead of my usual three!  (Hardly feel I earned my salary today).  Here’s my thoughts:

• The subzero temps combined with the Christmas vacation to make attendance less-than-memorable, especially at our Tinley Park campus. (After standing outside to pump gas this afternoon, I understand – it’s dangerously cold out there!)
• Pastor Dan Johnson was on fire today!  Besides his inspirational message on “Moving Forward” to close out our ‘Christmas is For-Giving’ series, he ministered prophetically to several attendees, including some first-time guests, who were greatly touched as a result.
• Speaking of a Pastor Johnson being on-fire, his wife Pat wasn’t far behind today either – as I listened to her exhortation this morning in Shorewood, I couldn’t help but think about how much she’s grown in using her speaking gifts on stage!
• It was going being at the ‘wood today! It’s been way too long since I had ministered at the Shorewood campus, and it was really neat to see new people as well as familiar faces there.  What a great job our whole team does, from greeting & welcoming guests, to worship & children’s ministry – it’s a true reflection of CLC.  And seeing at least 4-5 people pray to receive Christ was icing on the cake – I never get tired of new people coming to Christ!!!
• My wife’s book finally arrived (even though we only had one box of ‘pre-release’ copies due to some delays at the publisher’s) and they sold out today!  No fear: the book will be released in early January.
• I’ve been camped out in our upstairs game room while Chris entertained the “women of her heart” tonight (no way I’d crash that party), so I had a chance to watch the Falcons-Vikings game….finally we get a little help!  Now if da Bears can get revenge for the earlier Packer’s game tomorrow night, and if we get more help from the Giants next week, and if we beat…..oh, never mind, if a pig had wings it could fly.  But just wait ’til next year!

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