Starting Afresh, Starting Anew

 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.” (rf. Ps. 51:10-13)

Starting afresh is always an exciting venture, especially when the past has not been necessarily a good experience. Each new day, turn of the seasons, and, most notably, the flipping of the calendar provides us the opportunity to reflect back on what has transpired before and how we hope things will move in a more positive direction for the future. However, as much as we may want to bring about lasting change in our own lives, if we really face the truth about ourselves, we are creatures of habit, having carved out ruts that we will default to chiefly when the pressure is on or the stresses of life begin to increase sharply. In other words, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"—"the more it changes, the more it's the same thing", usually translated as "the more things change, the more they stay the same," (Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, Les Guêpes, January 1849). Not much hope there, huh?

However, King David possessed insight that many today do not possess. He realized that the source of real change comes from without, not within. If I am to experience a fundamental transformation, it will be because the Power that created the universe will recreate me from the inside out, starting with my spirit and my heart. From there my mind and will will be renewed in such a fashion that I will no longer be the same as I was before. I will have been touched and truly changed by the hand and Presence of Almighty God.

Having then experienced Him firsthand, my life is never the same again. I now have the platform to be able to share with others the same path that I have trod. I can tell them how to gain the benefits I have obtained by seeking Him who came into my life and did what I could not do by my own efforts. My life has been thoroughly renewed by Him and now I want those around me to share in what I know to be true personally.

So, as we join with David, may we let this portion of his psalm be our prayer for every new day, every new season, indeed, every new year that comes our way. God is in the recreation business. Let us be His living displays so that others may come to know His power to become new as well.

Ode to the Christmas Tree

Ode to the Christmas Tree

And now the page has turned once again.

The calendar’s colors glisten white and gold,

Replacing Thanksgiving’s browns and amber

With December’s barrenness and cold.

Amidst the hoary and ashen landscape

Pointing straightway to the skies,

Draping green its mighty branches,

Alone this ancient cedar decries

Its praise for its own glorious Creator

Who gave it depth and richly glow.

It stands as a noble emerald arbor

Heralding shelter ‘neath its stately bow.

Yet, it bends and falls to dogged teeth

Whose bite parts trunk and earth.

Now this evergreen moves fast-bound and wounded

Unknowingly destined to an end of joy and mirth.

Where once its bristles were lovingly adorned

By glistening raindrop and snow,

Its fragrant bows are now nestled and topped

By garland, ornaments and candles’ glow.

Though bedecked in light of various hues

And draped in spheres and bells,

This mighty cedar of the forest glen still

Perseveres, its core and vital message to tell

Of the Creator to Whom it others steers

Each day and night without reservation,

Whose love was so great for the creature, man,

That He became him to make his propitiation.

As the tree unwittingly gives its life  

For a few weeks an object of holy celebration,

So the Creator’s Son voluntarily became

Mankind’s sacrifice, a gift of Divine reconciliation.

When now we stand before the tree of lights

We carefully erect in living room or hall,

Let its lights remind us of Him who illumines our hearts

And its peak point us to His love which surpasses all.

A New Ministry

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (II Cor. 5:17 NASB)

            Newness: the mark of true change. I remember, some twenty-five years ago or more, when automobiles were actually low enough in cost to purchase one and drive it off the lot without believing that you had left several of one’s own appendages, children, and future generations behind with the salesman! Apart from the ever-increasing price of vehicles, there is nothing like the smell of the inside of a brand new car with the interweaving of the various scents of the components of the interior. Indeed, it is rumored that such a fragrance has been put into a spray form so that your personal mode of transportation can continue to maintain that special aroma. We have a particular appreciation for newness.

            To be new is to be different from the past. The Apostle Paul makes that clear here in the text, “the old things passed away; behold, new things have come”. This is not only true of the biblical marks of the authentic Christian life, to which he is referring specifically, but it is also indicative of a change of ministries whenever a new pastor comes on board and begins his work as God’s appointed shepherd of the flock. By nature, God will endeavor to use the new pastor in a different fashion than He did the one previously. Different does not denote better or worse. It simply means that the Lord, who is the Head of the Church, desires to lead this expression of His Church along the path of His will using a new perspective provided by this shepherd of His choosing.

            To be new, by definition, will bring changes. Paul in this passage stresses that, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature…new things have come”. In other words, the way we used to live, according to the world’s standards, following the culture’s lead, gauging our actions to the pleasure of those around us—these things are no longer to be the norm for us as Christians. Because of the reality of Jesus in our lives, we have changed and, therefore, how we are to live, act, think and behave has changed. We now are to operate by a new paradigm—the teachings of Christ, the Word of God. Thus, things we used to do without thinking because we were lost, now we should no longer do because of the potential negative impact they will have on others and because of my connection to Jesus and His kingdom. My guide for my actions is now whether or not God would truly be glorified by what I am doing since Scripture tells me in “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31 NASB). Change is implicit with such recourse.

            As it with us personally, so it is with God’s Church. In the bringing of a new pastor to lead His people, He intends to stir their hearts to greater growth and action. He does not desire us ever to become stagnant or content with our own spiritual well-being, but to constantly pursue Him toward maturity in our faith. This pursuit requires flexibility on our part and the acceptance of change as He, the master potter, continues to conform us into the image of His Son (rf. Rom. 8:29). He is simply using the new pastor and his ministry as one tool to accomplish that task (see Eph. 4:11-13).

            So, as we begin this new journey together as pastor and flock, know that your pastor has your best interests at heart. It is his desire to follow the Lord’s leadership in serving you so that the direction we go as a church will be under the guidance of His Holy Spirit and in accordance with His Word. He realizes that he will bring to the table differences from the pastors of the past simply because of who he is and how God has made him as a minister. However, no doubt together we will pursue the course God has planned for us, one that, by faith, will be, in His words, “a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11 NASB).