Christmas is almost here, which means, for many of us, we’re thinking about presents – whether it’s presents you want for yourself or presents you need to buy for others. I’m not going to use this post to convict you of your sinful materialism or to get you to re-focus your energy on Jesus this X-mas (although both might be needed). What I do want to encourage you to do is to begin thinking now about how you can show the love of Jesus by doing something extra-special for someone in need this year.
It’s December 5th… which means that between now and X-mas you’ve got roughly 20 days that you can use to glorify God by…
1. Finding someone in need...
This could be someone poor, someone who's spending their first X-mas without a loved one, an elderly couple who is lonely or even sick, a college student away from their family, etc. If you have trouble try asking your pastor/minister or calling around to local charitable organizations.
2. Budgeting some extra $$$
Doing something extra-special doesn't mean being irresponsible. Furthermore if you don't budget you're more likely to cop-out or make excuses not to spend enough to really bless someone's heart. The amount of money you spend is not the point... it's how much you invest your heart into what you're going to do.
3. Figuring out the best way to show them the extraordinary love of Jesus
Here are some suggestions...
- Buy them a gift
- Take them to dinner and spend time with them
- Buy their family's presents for them
- Leave them cash anonymously
- Invite them to your family's Christmas celebration to be treated as part of the family
4. Letting others share in your joy of giving
(btw for those who are worried I’m taking the CHRIST out of CHRISTmas by abbreviating with X-mas… the Greek letter ‘chi’ [x] when capitalized and left alone is the Greek abbreviation for Christ which is transliterated ‘Christos’… ‘Ch’ standing for the Greek letter ‘X’)
in point 3, you identify the root issue, and every calvinist i've ever read or met would agree: at some point we all tend to want to believe we have done something for God that puts God in our debt, such that He owes us and we can make demands...whether it's personal wealth, football catches or healthy children...and that belief is simply foolishness.
ReplyDeleteJob35:7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand?
you said: "we owe him perfect obedience, which we have all failed to give him."
i would agree, but your logic says that He can only demand perfect obedience if we have the natural capacity to be perfectly obedient. do you really believe that we are capable of being perfect in and of ourselves? if it's impossible for even the best of men to be perfectly obedient in their own strength(Mark10:27), then by your logic, God cannot demand it, right? this is the foundation of your whole issue with “calvinism.”
you said: "Taken to its logical conclusion Calvinism can "blame" God for anything and everything - thus taking away personal responsibility."
i'd like to see you do the logic on this one - as calvinists believe both that God is sovereign and man is responsible, which is what the bible teaches.
noncalvinists like to say that they believe that "God is sovereign" but usually only in the sense that a human king might be “sovereign”: God can only set laws and impose punishment. but calvinists start with a more biblical definition.
Dan4:35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
Isa46:10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’
Prov16:4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. (NASB)
Prov16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
Prov16:1 To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.
Isa45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
Amos3:6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
Lam3:38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
Prov21:1The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
Psa33:10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Psa135:6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.
…yet you would complain that that sort of sovereignty would make God responsible for everything that happens... so again, let's look at scripture:
look at job: “the LORD gave and the LORD has taken away” (1:21) and “shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (2:10) and note that in saying these things (i.e. "blaming God"), job did not sin. even if God did not “cause” job harm “directly,” He was ultimately responsible for job’s losses and trouble (just as He was responsible for the good in job's life). job was dealing with much worse than a dropped football yet he refused to curse God.
continued-