Julio Diaz is a social worker in his thirties who lives in the Bronx. As he stepped off the subway one night, a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife. “He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’” Diaz says.

A Tale of Two Passions

1.  Recently on “Chopped,” a cooking show that pits culinary artists against each other in a competition to find the top chef, one of the contestants related the high cost of becoming an exceptional chef. He recounted a realization he’d had early on: he would not be able to achieve greatness in his career and succeed in his marriage. One would have to go.  Well… she did.

2.  Every week, this NFL quarterback picks out someone who is suffering, or who is dying, or who is injured. He flies these people and their families to the Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel, buys them dinner (usually at a Dave & Buster’s), gets them and their families pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff (!), gets them 30-yard-line tickets down low, visits with them after the game (sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and sends them off with a basket of gifts. Home or road, win or lose, hero or goat. This whole thing makes no football sense, of course. Most NFL players hardly talk to teammates before a game, much less visit with the sick and dying. Isn’t that a huge distraction? “Just the opposite,” says Tim Tebow. “It’s by far the best thing I do to get myself ready. Here you are, about to play a game that the world says is the most important thing in the world. Win and they praise you. Lose and they crush you. And here I have a chance to talk to the coolest, most courageous people. It puts it all into perspective. The game doesn’t really matter. I mean, I’ll give 100 percent of my heart to win it, but in the end, the thing I most want to do is not win championships or make a lot of money, it’s to invest in people’s lives, to make a difference.” *

These two passions bring Jesus’ words into sharp focus: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” #

May the Lord empower each of your noblest passions today, and may He give you discernment to know which ones are not worthy of Him.

Blessings,

How sad. In Genesis 1:31 God “saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” Yet, a mere ten generations later in 6:11-13, “the earth was corrupt in the sight of God… God saw the earth and behold it wascorrupted, because all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.”

This word “corrupt” refers to something being spoiled, ruined, or marred. It is used to describe the decay and ruin of tangible things such as a vineyard, the temple, or a body. It is also used abstractly to describe moral perversion and corruption, as we read here: “all flesh had corrupted their way.”

Consider the extent of corruption as a result of sin:
* Our globe is now beset with earthquakes, hurricanes, plagues, and other natural disasters.
* The animal kingdom no longer operates in harmony; it’s “eat or be eaten.”
* Every living thing–plant, animal, and person–is on the path to physical corruption and decay.
* All mankind is now morally perverted and corrupt.

Basically, no part of creation now exists as God made it. Because of Adam’s sin, all of creation now groans under this “slavery to corruption” (Rom 8:21). Decay, degradation, and death rule.

But in the wisdom and mercy of God, the story’s not over. God has a grand purpose to eradicate corruption!
First… He overthrew corruption by bringing His Son Jesus back from the dead.  Corruption and decay tried–but failed–to consume His body and soul.  Jesus’ resurrection meant He could save others from corruption.

Secondly… God dealt with inner, moral corruption by making a “new creation” of everyone who turns toChrist in faith (2 Cor 5:17).

Thirdly… for those who’ve turned to Christ He solved theissue of physical corruption by promising an ”incorruptible” resurrected body
(1 Cor 15:42,50,53-54).

Finally… He will do away with corruption in creation.
Man’s sin subjected creation to futility (rendered it unable to achieve the purpose for which it was originally designed).  But God determined to set it free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  In other words, He promises that the whole of creation will one day be released from corruption and “join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay”
(Rom 8:21 NLT).

Lord Jesus, thank You for not abandoning us to corruption. By Your death, burial, and resurrection You met our corruption head-on and stripped it of its power. For this we are eternally in Your debt. Now our hope is fixed on that day when You’ll fully obliterate all corruption and make everything new again. Come quickly!

What was it like just before the flood?
God tells us: ”the earth was filled with violence” (Gen 6:11).

The word “violence” in Hebrew is hamas. It means “violence, wrong.”

Arabic also has the wordhamas but in this language it means “enthusiasm.”

In yet another twist, hamas is also an acronym for Harakat al-Muq?wamah al-?Isl?miyyah, or ”Islamic Resistance Movement.” We know this group better as the terrorist organization Hamas.

What an irony that this group’s “enthusiasm” for Islam is expressed in violence–that their modus operandi fulfills the Hebrew meaning of their name.

And what does God think of violence? Violence and corruption seem to be the two deciding factors in God’s decision to destroy the earth and all flesh.  ”The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth” (6:12-13).

Reflecting on this has caused me to do some soul-searching. Because while I absolutely do not condone or participate in violence, I’ve realized there must be a chink in my armor based on what I watch on TV and in the movies.  Uh oh.  Somehow I’ve convinced myself that violence in “a good action thriller” is different. And in the process, it seems, I’ve actually become quite desensitized to violence, the very thing that is so deeply troubling to God.

Oh, Lord, teach me to despise violence as You do.  Help me feel more like You feel when a life is destroyed.  Give me Your attitude toward my fellow man in whom You have breathed the breath of life.

Blessings,

Blessings,

If you were at WHCC on Christmas Sunday you heard our special guest speaker, Jesse Shepherd.  Mr. Shepherd told us first-hand about the night the angels’ announcement led him and the other shepherds to Bethlehem to see the baby in the manger.

Afterwards, WHCC enews caught up with Jesse Shepherd at Starbucks for an exclusive interview.  We thought you’d enjoy some excerpts from our conversation.

WHCC enews: Thanks for taking some time with us, Mr. Shepherd.  Tell us, how readily did people believe your report of the angels’ announcement about the baby in the manger?

JS: It varied.  Some did, some didn’t.  The Pharisees didn’t. The religious lawyers didn’t. But some of our friends and neighbors did.  The rulers wouldn’t even listen to the whole story.  God-fearing people who tried to obey the Scriptures usually believed us.  In general, average folk were more inclined to believe us; the upper crust–whether religious or political–were highly skeptical.

WHCC enews: Had you ever heard from angels before or seen a vision or anything?

JS: Never.

WHCC enews: Or since?

JS: Nope.

WHCC enews: Have you ever doubted your own story?

JS: Well, every now and then I hear myself telling the story and I think, “How crazy does this sound?!?”  You know, angels in the sky and all that.  But all I can say is it was as real as the nose on your face.  I know what I saw and what I heard, even though it sounds crazy.  And then, when we got to Bethlehem it all turned out exactly like the angel said–a baby born that very day had been wrapped in strips of cloth and was lying in a feeding trough.  What are the chances?

WHCC enews: Why do you think the angel announced it to you shepherds but not to the religious leaders?

JS: Well, I’m not for sure about this, but I think one reason might be because we were willing to listen.  You know, the religious leaders have been very opposed to our story because they don’t believe the Messiah would be born like this, you know, to poor people and in a manger and all that.  And another reason the angel might have told us is so that it’d be clear the Messiah is for everyone–rich, poor; connected, disconnected; upper-crust, lower-crust; and everywhere in between.

WHCC enews: How has that night changed you?

JS: Well, you know, at first I used to be amazed that the angel told the message TO us.  Kinda like you were just asking.  But after a while it started to hit me that the angel told the message THROUGH us.  That was like, whoa!  Us?!?  I mean, the angel told us so wecould get the word out!  So if we just sit around and keep our mouths shut, well, I think we’re not doing what we’re supposed to.  You know, it’s like the message about the Messiah isn’t just for us.  We have to let everyone else know, too!  And if we don’t, what might happen?  I’ll tell you this. I really, really do not want that angel–much less, all those angels–showing up some night and asking me why I didn’t pass the news along. I would hate to get them upset! So I’m forever changed because I can’t keep quiet about the whole thing. I can’t just live my life for myself anymore.

WHCC enews: Anything else you want to add?

JS: Yeah.  The irony.  The irony of the whole things is that we were shepherds taking care of sheep.  Sheep for the temple sacrifice.  But the baby in the manger turns out to be the Messiah… who ends up being the Lamb of God… who was sacrificed to take away our sins once and for all.  So no more daily sacrifices means no more sheep for the temple… which means no more shepherds are needed to take care of them.  Do you see the irony?  That angel was telling us we were going to be losing our jobs!

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Dear Friend,

Don’t you just wonder what else Jesse and the other shepherds would tell us about that night and how it changed them forever?

One of my takeaways from the interview with Jesse is that we dare not be silent either.  Like he said, the message is meant to be THROUGH us, not just TO us!

Blessings for a Happy New Year,

Merry Christmas,