Dear All Saints Family,

Advent greetings to you this month!  It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone.  Christmas and the New Year are right around the corner.  I must say I love this time of year, the Advent Season.  There is always an excitement in the air.  A festive spirit begins around Thanksgiving and builds week by week until Christmas.  The child in me comes alive with anticipation…I love the smell of fresh trees and wreaths, the sound of the familiar music almost everywhere you go, the sight of the lights that dress up the houses and yards, the delicious treats, the busyness on the street and in the stores, and even the Christmas shopping itself.  I always take great comfort that family will be together.  It is an exciting time, and in my childlike naiveté this time of year, it is a safe time, where all seems well in the world.

While I love the Advent Season, I also find it to be one of the most hectic and stressful times of the year.  Today, I am reminded that Advent is not supposed to be a daily pursuit of checking things off of the to-do lists, so that on Christmas Day, at long last, we can put our feet up, relax, and exhale.  In my being shamelessly caught up in the very things I love about Advent, it is very easy for me to forget that this holy season is less about holiday cheer and more about the Holy One, who came once, and will come again in great power and glory.  Beware the inadvertent tendency to miss the meaning of Christmas in the rush of Advent busyness!

I heard one of my former priests echo a similar sentiment one time, his tendency to be drawn away from the central story behind the Advent Season in all of the busyness and excitement.  He offered to us, in the manner of David Letterman, “A Top Ten List of Things Not to Do During Advent this Year.”  It is one I have tried to live by since, some years better than others.  I thought I would share it with everyone today that we too might not succumb to the same temptation.  In descending order:

Dear All Saints,

As I pondered what I might write this week, of course I thought about Thanksgiving and Advent.

Well, Thanksgiving isn’t really a church holiday, but an American holiday.  Nonetheless, it is a theme worthy of Christian celebration and we will celebrate it well on Wednesday at 5:00 PM.  But, that’s not what I wanted to write about this time.

I thought of Advent, and I will write about that soon.  I would have this time, except I received this compelling email account a couple of days ago and haven’t been able to get the words out of my mind.  Thought I’d share it with you...Brother Yun is right on target; great words for the American Church.

Blessings,

Charlie+

Dear Friends,

I apologize for not posting a blog entry sooner.  I try to do this every other week or so, but just did not make it happen this time.  It has been a very exciting and busy time for me as we have undertaken our new office/fellowship space.  No complaints; better to be rising to meet the challenges of growth than struggling to survive. Amen?

It seems a very special time for the congregation right now.  We are growing, people are serving, and we are, by God’s grace and good favor, meeting our goals in a season of contagious enthusiasm.  We are blessed with a new place to fellowship and carry out God’s mission during the week.  It is a milestone in our life together.

Milestones are great; they symbolize the completion of one cycle (the familiar) and the movement into another (the unknown).  It is indeed a great victory that God has given us.  Yet, it is precisely that moment that we also need to be cautious.

Friends,

I’ve finally finished reading Larry Crabb’s Real Church…Does it Exist? Can I find it? It has been a very insightful journey for me, not that I’ve been way off base, for I’ve been right there with him for a long time, but Crabb has certainly given me some categories that will help me communicate what it is that I’m after personally and for us as a church.

Entering Section III of his book, “Marks Of The Church I Want To Be A Part Of,” I’ve decided to write today’s post using his chapter titles.

Mark 1:  “Hungers For The Truth That Sets Addicts Free”… Crab says, “All of us are addicts.  The really dangerous addictions are not the obvious ones such as sex and drugs.  Far more dangerous are the subtle addictions, relational addictions-the way we maneuver conversations to get what we want, to feel what we want to feel.  It is these addictions that go unnoticed and…get in the way of us living as followers of Jesus.”

Think of the masks we wear.  Some wear a “happy mask” so that people will affirm that they’ve got it all under control; it’s feeding a lie.  Some refuse conflict, so that they will appear civil, but abdicate their responsibility as leaders in so doing; they get the authority without having the responsibility.  Our fears guide the way we relate; that’s true for all of us.

What are our masks?  What are we looking for from our false Gods that prevent us from relating to our One True God and each other in a way He prescribes?  May we be a church where we voluntarily open up to others, and where others have the freedom to ask us to really open up.  If we will refuse to play our games, we will be open to real ministry and transformation.