Just A Thought...

During his sermon yesterday, my pastor related an experience he had recently.  He quiero'ed some Taco Bell and made a run to a local restaurant.  He happened upon a couple of guys who were eating in and asked them if and where they'd be going to church on Christmas Eve.  One of the guys was a pastor's son and said he'd be going to the traditional 11:00 service at his church.   The other man's answer was more telling.  He said every time he went to church on Christmas Eve, all he got was the story of a baby in a manger.  Nothing that told him that it would make a real difference in his life.

How many people go to church and leave thinking, "so, what?"  Are our churches really hitting people where they live?  I think Average Joe needs to know that the story of Christmas is more than a baby in a manager.  That this One who was born was born to make a difference and can and will change their lives.  It's called relevance and the modern-day church in America is rapidly losing it.  Are we truly interested in reaching the lost or just preaching to the itchy ears of the average Christian?

This year, let's focus our message on the "why" of the story, not the "when, where, and how" of it.

By the way, my church is studying the Old Testament book of Ruth during this Christmas season.  Wherein God began planning for the O Holy Night, using a poor widow and her widowed daughter-in-law, over 500 years before it happened.

It's already almost Thanksgiving Day?...

how the heck did that happen?

I blinked and there went October, sailing right on by me.

Where to begin?

wait, the Rams have already won 4 games this year?

how the heck did that happen?

oh, yeah, the Savior Of The Franchise...the Oklahoma Kid.  The QB Upon Whom The Team Is Relying Heavily.

..............

- enjoyed dinner-and-a-show-at-the-Fox with the lovely Renee Simms last evening.  Her birthday is this week and we took the opportunity to celebrate a bit early.  We dined at Joe Buck's downtown and took in the penultimate performance of "South Pacific" afterward.  Always love visiting the Fox Theatre.  A very enjoyable evening, indeed.

- My church just finished a shiny, happy romp through the shiny, happy book of Judges.  See, those crazy Israelites engaged in this tired ol' spin cycle of disobedience, bondage, repentance, and deliverance.  Sound like anyone you know, oh, yeah, us.  My casual contemporary church service had a real washer and dryer on stage as visual aids for each and every service of the series.  Props to that.

- Ol' Mizzou is up to nine wins with their scintillating, thrilling 14-0 win over Iowa State last evening.  (read the between the lines for some serious sarcasm there).  They'll need more of a pulse than that to beat KU next week.  Seriously.  10 wins is do-able but ugly losses to NU and Texas Tech will likely keep them out of a BCS bowl.  Which is fine with me, as long as we can stay out of the Texas Bowl this year.  Alamo, Holiday, or Cotton would be just fine, thanks.  I have invested in a Mizzou hat and t-shirt so as to be properly attired for future MU athletic events.

- Operation Get The House's Exterior Renovated is getting underway soon.  Work should start in a week or two, hopefully.  Going with a nice khaki color for the siding, which I think will look handsome against the white trim.

- must walk dog. now.  This whole standard time thing where it gets dark earlier is kind of a pain to get used to!