Are you ready for Christmas?

Are you ready for Christmas?

Usually when we ask that question we mean: have you written the cards, is the food all ready, are the presents wrapped, is the Christmas tree up...

As a minister it often means: are the posters printed, have the invitations been distributed, are the services planned...

Last Sunday was Advent Sunday - the first day of Advent. Advent is a period of preparation in the run up to Christmas. Not preparation in terms of those things listed above, but the kind of preparation that comes from reflecting on the true significance of Christmas.

Preparing to celebrate Christmas really only makes sense when we recognise the past, present and future nature of our faith - this has nothing to do with Dickens' Christmas Carol!

Past: We celebrate that Jesus came and was born as a baby about 2000 years ago. 

Present: We thank God that we can know the reality of Immanuel - God with us, right now in the present, through the Holy Spirit.

Future: We look forward to day when Jesus will come again.

Our lives in the present should reflect our belief in the past and our hope for the future.

So, are you ready for Christmas?

Of course there are some people who just can't wait...

Youngest daughter caught red handed on December 3rd

Motivation - Part 3

This is the third of four posts on Motivation. If you missed part one or part two click these links and read them first.

One of the inevitable things about training properly for a marathon is that you have to run a long way in training. Depending on the programme you're following this will usually mean at least one run of about 20 miles a few weeks before the big day. Of course you build up to this slowly, adding a mile to your weekly long run over the months leading up to that final 20 mile training run. And for most people who enter a marathon I'm guessing that the furthest they would normally run (when not training for a marathon) would be somewhere about 10-13 miles.

So once those long runs get beyond about 12 or 13 miles, and start taking over 2 hours to complete, you start to ache a bit during the last few miles.

One thing I realised during this week's 14 miler was that running anywhere close to home with about 4 miles to go provides incredible temptation to take a short cut and call it a day. After all, 11 or 12 miles is still a good effort - right? Instead it would be much better to be 7 miles from home at the halfway point because then the motivation to run 14 miles is simply the motivation of getting home. 

So this week, this is roughly where I'll be at the half-way point of my long run - and once I've got this far I have no option but to turn around and run the 7.5 miles back home again.

Making sense of Leviticus

We've now almost finished our series on Leviticus, just a couple more Sundays to go - and I think most people have found it surprisingly interesting and relevant. I guess for a lot of Christians our only experience of Leviticus is the book we get to when our 'I'm going to read the Bible in a year - this year - yes, I really am, honest' intention comes unstuck. That will be a mix of initial enthusiasm wearing off combined with some accounts that seem to be neither inspiring or relevant.

I also guess that a lot of Christians approach the Bible with the attitude that it is the word of God, that it is inspired by God, and that it should be teaching me something - it should be making a difference. The trouble is: how do you make sense of a passage on what to do when you find mildew in your house - it doesn't seem to teach us very much at all. If you go and tell the local vicar that you have mildew she probably won't be that interested - and no one is going to knock your house down because of mildew. Also there are large sections that relate directly to the sacrificial system that is no longer a part of our lives as Christians in 2012.

So how do you make sense of Leviticus?

I guess the first thing to remember is that none of the Bible was specifically written with you in mind - and therefore we should never simply read something and think that it automatically applies to us. The trouble is that that is often how we treat large parts of it - and then we come unstuck when we come across a part that clearly doesn't apply.

We'll have a look at this over the next couple of weeks - but basically we read the Bible and ask what the text actually says; then we ask what the text meant - to it's first hearers or readers; and then we ask that if that's what it meant then - what does it mean for us today.

Take it out

We're now into our third week of processing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and have sent off around 2,700 shoe boxes so far. Part of the reason the boxes need checking is to make sure that people have followed the rules on what is and isn't allowed in a box. Certain things, such as food items, are not allowed in because of import/export rules. Some things are not allowed in because they would be dangerous - such as marbles in a box for 2-4 year olds. Some things are taken out because they have the potential to spoil a whole box, or a whole carton if they were to leak - such as a large bottle of shampoo.

So what do we do with all the things that we take out? If something is broken or in a poor condition it will get thrown away. If there are cuddly toys that are just a bit grubby then they will go through the washing machine and get cleaned up before heading off to Swaziland. Most other things will be sold and we use the money from these sales to purchase new items to use as 'fillers'. Fillers are used to top up boxes that are not full.

Chocolate, shampoo, toy guns and novels - some of the items taken out of shoe boxes this year

Crates of fillers ready to top up boxes as needed