“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:” (Isaiah 9:6 KJV).

I started watching the sitcom “Seinfeld” only after it went into syndication. I guess the daily dose of reruns finally got me interested.

If you know anything about the show, you know that the character played by Jason Alexander, is an inept, self-absorbed, all around loser named “George.” Except in one episode– in this installment, George decides to do the opposite of what he would normally do in every situation. In a hilarious 30 minute story line, George finally gets the girl, becomes popular, gets promoted, etc. Apparently, when George does the opposite of his character’s nature, everything turns to gold.

In our consumer culture today we’ve turned Christmas into a frenzied time of spending and going into debt. The more we spend, the more unhappy we are with Christmas. In fact, the more we spend, the more unhappy we seem to be, period. In a recent survey, Americans ranked above every 3rd world country in the incidence of clinical depression. It seems that the more we spend, the more depressed we get.

Perhaps we should start doing the opposite. What’s the antidote to greed? What’s the therapy for spending?

Giving. That’s the antidote. That’s the therapy. Instead of doing what the rest of Americans are doing, do the opposite. Stop spending and start giving.

Do the opposite this Christmas. Spend less so that you can give more. That’s what God did when He gave us Jesus. That’s what Christmas is all about.

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh” (Matthew 2:11 NIV).

The word “worship” comes from the Old English, “weorthscipe,” literally meaning to “ascribe worth.” Worshiping God might be described in two parts:

1. Recognizing God’s worth.
2. Giving God what He is worth.

We were created to worship. From dinosaurs to dandelions, no creature but man has the capacity for worship. We have a God-given desire for worship. So, we’re going to spend our worship on something. It’s not a question of whether we will worship, it’s a question of what and how we will worship.

When the Magi followed the star to Israel, they first encountered a king named Herod. He was a usurper to the throne of David. Half Jewish and half Idumean, Herod gained the throne through Roman accommodation. The Magi did not spend their worship on him. They carried their lavish gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense to Bethlehem and laid them at the feet of Jesus. They wisely spent their worship on the Creator King born a man.

We still face a choice for our worship today. Will we spend our worship on the worldly kingdom or on the One Born King, Jesus the Christ?

Do you recognize and express God’s worth to you?  Where will you spend your worship?

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5 NIV).

The year our eldest turned three years old we decided the boy needed a dog. We had read that golden retrievers were good with kids, so we checked the classifieds and found that a breeder in Roanoke, Virginia was selling puppies.

The mother dog had ten puppies and we bought a little female and took her home.

“What shall we name her?” My wife asked.

My son, Stephen had several ideas, most of them involving Smurf or Masters of the Universe names. But after a family discussion we settled on the name, “Sheeba.”

When filling out the AKC registration papers, we noticed that Sheeba had quite a lineage, all of them with royal names. Since we were living in Moneta, Virginia at the time, we named her “Lady Sheeba of Moneta.”

Sheeba was a cute puppy, but she had some aggravating habits as she grew. She loved to chew on shoes. When we moved into the city with her, she would escape from our backyard and cruise the neighborhood in search of shoes. We often found random sneakers, house shoes and other footwear in our backyard after one of Sheeba’s tours.

I told her, “Sheeba, if you’re going to keep stealing shoes, at least steal a matching pair, so we can get some use out of them.”

She just sat and stared at me as if she understood, offering her paw for a handshake. Apparently, she had no concept of the real use of shoes. She thought shoes were for chewing, not wearing. Sure, Sheeba was a shoe thief. But she followed a kind of ethic, never leaving her victim’s completely shoeless.

As much as Sheeba loved to chew on things, she would never chew on us. She was the most gentle dog I’ve ever known. She had a huge, deep growl and bark, but no bite.

When my daughter Erin came along, Sheeba welcomed her into the family. When Erin started walking, she would lean against Sheeba for support. With her little dimpled, chubby hands she would push and prod Sheeba’s face and head. Sheeba would look at me with a kind of exasperated look, but never respond to Erin’s pokes with anything but gentle tolerance.

Erin loved to pull Sheeba’s tail which was something even she couldn’t tolerate for long. But rather than snapping at Erin’s hand, Sheeba would take her own tail into her mouth and gently pull it from Erin’s grasp. Once free, she would bolt away for a brief respite from our toddler’s attentions.

In our culture today, we don’t place a high value on gentleness. We see at as weakness. But gentleness is not weakness. It is strength under control. It’s not that Sheeba didn’t have teeth to bite, she just chose to use them on old shoes instead of us.

The gentleness of God is often displayed in His creation. Sometimes in a golden retriever. Sometimes in His people when we are yielded to His Spirit.

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:23 NIV)

This past weekend was our second time participating in the Wilson Whirlygig Festival. I’m so proud of our faithful WCC servants who worked hard to make our booth a success.

Sonny Allen, our Director of Contribution, and the one in charge of WCC’s Whirlygig booth, was unbelievable in his commitment, leadership, and enthusiasm for this project. Sonny you are the man!

But as Sonny himself would tell you, he didn’t do it alone. He put together a great team. One of his key players and according to him, his “right hand,” was Abby Propst. Abby brought a great attention to detail and even performed as spokesperson for the event in our in-house video promo produced by George Bryant. Amanda Manuel was another key player on the team, bringing her “eye” for how our booth should look. She designed the signage and layout. Marsha Morris and Mike McKinley were also important members of the team helping with getting inventory together and setting up.

It took 50+ volunteers to man our 30 foot space all day Saturday and Sunday. We sold cotton candy and raffle tickets, raising $1124.00 to give to the Hope Station (a local ministry to the hungry and homeless). We also did free “hair-painting.” These colorful hairdos were like our free advertising as they walked along the street.

We were told that people were asking, “Where did you get your hair?”

“Down at the WCC booth and it’s free!” They’d respond.

The line at our booth got so long on Saturday, that we had to assign a couple of our volunteers to crowd control.

On Sunday afternoon our own worship band led by Stephen Combs performed. Stephen introduced our band and invited listeners to head down to our booth. Stephen and Stedfast did a wonderful job. It was like having church in the streets as the sounds of worship music echoed down Nash Street.

Why did we do this event and what did we accomplish? You may ask. It’s because we want people in Wilson to know that we are Christ followers that love this city, that we are authentic and friendly, and that we want to serve them in any way we can. Our desire in doing events like Whirlygig is bridge-building.

We want to “Build a bridge of trust that will bear the weight of truth.”

I think we were faithful to be bridge-builders this past weekend. I’m thankful to God for the faithful servants at WCC!

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12 NIV).

Have you noticed how course and sarcastic our culture has become? We’re convinced that we have to be thick-skinned and savvy to survive these days.

Or do we? Is it possible that there is a different kind of clothing that we can wear in this rough culture of ours?

Remember when you were younger and sarcasm made no sense (For some, it still doesn’t.)? Most of us figured out the humor of sarcasm when we were in middle school. This, after we had endured several raucous occasions where everyone laughed but us, only to realize the laugh was on us. Children don’t understand satire. They’re too kind.

And speaking of children and kindness, is that where we lost ours? Did we outgrow kindness like a piece of kid’s clothing?

Kindness is an underrated trait these days, but the Bible says that it’s one of the marks of the fruit of the Spirit. Perhaps kindness is one of the traits that Jesus so admired in the children he welcomed on his lap. He appreciated their simple faith and kind manner.

Kindness and manners go together you know. At least, that’s what my mother taught me. When a clerk at a store showed poor customer service or a person was gruff with a child, she would whisper under her breath, “Now, that was ill-mannered. I guess she never learned better.”

You can tell a lot about a person in the way they treat a child, or the way they treat someone who is childlike (as in the least of these). If they are rough and haughty, they have not put on kindness. They do not possess the fruit of the Spirit.

Kindness may have been relegated to the kid’s clothing section these days, but I think we should look and see if we can’t find it in our size again.

“But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed” (Habakkuk 2:3 NLT).

Ever wonder how the human invention of the clock has affected us? God’s creation gave us a broad sense of time, with the sun, moon, and heavens moving like large hands on a celestial clock. But these were days and nights, months and seasons, not minutes and seconds. God gave us time, but we invented the clock.

I suppose the clock seduces us into thinking that we have more time because we can subdivide it into smaller and smaller segments. We get the idea that we can “manage” our minutes and “budget” our time for maximum effectiveness. However, this subdivision of time into micro-second intervals doesn’t add one moment to our lives. It only slices it into smaller slivers.

In today’s One Year Bible reading, Jeremiah was asked for a word from the Lord by a remnant of the Jews that were planning to escape to Egypt.

The Scripture says, “Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah” (Jeremiah 42:7 NIV).

Ten days! Not ten hours, not ten minutes, not ten seconds, but ten days later God answered Jeremiah’s prayer for wisdom. We see this ten day pattern again in the book of Acts when the disciples waited and prayed in an upper room after Christ’s ascension. On the tenth day the Holy Spirit fell on them and empowered them to carry out Christ’s commission.

Ten days of waiting patiently on God to speak? Hmmm… let me check my schedule. No. Sorry. I don’t have the time. I’m on the clock, you know.

“…Let each one go home in peace” (1 Kings 22:17 NIV).

Nearly every Sunday after church our family has lunch at our house. All of our children are grown and married, but they all gather to eat at our table on Sundays. I assumed our grocery bill would go down after the kids left home… it hasn’t. They went out and multiplied and returned in greater numbers.

I lovingly refer to them as the “holy horde.” They descend upon our house like locusts every weekend and do not leave until the cupboards are bare.

But Robin and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We want our house to be a place of hospitality and peace for our growing family. We love being together. We love the happy chaos of a house filled with the smells of home cooking and the sounds of love and laughter.

There is a kind of peace that settles over me at these Sunday lunches at home. As we sit crowded around our dining room table, I have few words left (After preaching at two services every Sunday morning, I’m out of words). But that doesn’t stop me from enjoying all the loud conversation that bounces around our table (Have you seen a family where everyone talks at the same time?). I don’t know if it’s the fatigue from a great effort on Sunday mornings or the fullness of having just eaten my wife’s cooking, but a feeling of peace and satisfaction comes over me that is hard to describe.

The Hebrew word for “peace” is “shalom.” In Israel and in other Middle Eastern countries the word is used as a greeting and for saying goodbye. They say, “Shalom” as a kind of blessing on the hearer. The word has several layers of meaning. It certainly means to be free from warfare or worry. It may also include the state of mind that is at rest and is experiencing complete contentment. This kind of peace is only experienced as a gift from God.

This past Sunday when everyone at our table was talking, only two were silent… me and my grandson, Nathaniel. I had already talked enough and Nate hasn’t even started talking yet.

We kept our peace at the end of the table.