JP JONES

Well, it’s the time of year and the day when many will make a resolution to live life differently in the new year than we did in the present year.  Of course, I heard yesterday the top 3 resolutions that most make are:  Lose Weight — Get healthy, stop smoking, and stop cursing.  I’ve also been told those resolutions only last approximately a month or until you’re are cutoff in traffic (whichever comes first)!

Now, I also understand some may not be “resolution makers.”  That mindset is usually because you don’t want to miss a goal or you don’t like to set yourself up for a potential disappoint or you just think the whole idea is dumb!  Trust me, I hang out with enough cynical people to know there are many who just roll their eyes anytime this subject is brought up.  Quite frankly, looking at the statistics of how often resolutions are kept my cynical (err “skeptical”) friends have every defense towards their response.

Anyway, I don’t really care if we are resolution makers or not.  The truth is God isn’t finished with any of us and hopefully we aren’t finished with Him.  So, if that’s the case this time of year just happens to be a good time to make a fresh start or a restart and it gives us a reason to look and see where God might be moving, growing, or maturing us.

So, here’s 4 resolutions I think we ought to all consider:

1. Live with a Greater Awareness to what God is doing — We ought to wake up each morning uttering the simple prayer, “God, help me to see where you are at work and give me the will to work alongside of you.”  I’m convinced many of us don’t see so much of what God is doing and we unfortunately reach the false conclusion that God is idle.  He isn’t.  He’s present and active and if we will see that we will have the opportunity to let His will be done here on earth just as it is in Heaven.
2. Pursue Generosity — That probably means we need to stay faithful (or become committed) to getting out of debt and returning our tithe to God.  It probably also means we need to live with a more open handed spirit towards our possessions and finances.  I’m convinced too often we cling to our materials far more than we clutch to our faith that God will provide.
3. Pray more — This really goes back to the first item in our list.  If we’re going to live with a greater awareness of God it ought to in turn lead us to a greater frequency of prayer.  By saying that realize I’m not talking nearly as much about speaking to God as much as I am listening to Him.  Scripture tells us God’s voice is quiet and still.  So, in a world that is filled with noise (i.e. computers, conversations, ipods, cell phones, and more) it’s going to take intentionality and frequency until it becomes natural.  Just think of it like this:  15 years ago a cell phone was for necessity and emergency; now we don’t leave home without them.  What was once “unnatural” has now become a part of our nature.
4. Find someone and love, serve, and lead them — It could be someone at work.  It could be someone in your neighborhood, your small group, your circle of friends, or even someone you won’t even meet until 2009, but God will or has put them in your life because His desire is for you to love, serve, and lead them.  You may not feel qualified or capable.  You may not be sure how to do it.  All of that’s “ok.”  It’s why items #1 and #3  above are so critical.  God is already out ahead of us.  So, we need to pray and look and listen because He has told us (all of us — yes, you too) when we will ask . . . we will receive, when we will seek . . . we will find, and when we will knock . . . doors will be opened.

So, there’s a list to consider and my pervading thought is, “What if 1000 people make those resolutions?  Will it matter?  What if 100 people make those resolutions?  Will it really count?  What if 1 person makes a commitment to seeking to fulfill those resolutions?  Will it make a difference?”  YES!

Here are my top 5 Christmas movies (in order):

1. Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase.  There are just so many classic moments and experiences we can all relate to that you just can’t miss it.
2. A Christmas Carol — I like the one with George C. Scott.  The other “knockoffs” just don’t deliver like this one.
3. Christmas Story — We’ve all heard the line, “You’ll shoot your eye out!”  I love the fact that this one gets played for 24 hours straight.
4. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever — This was a made for TV movie I think, but it’s great.  We actually have it in our church library.
5. Miracle on 34th Street — Been watching this one since I was a kid and it’s just a classic.

I know there will be some who can’t believe movies such as “Elf” or “It’s a Wonderful Life” aren’t on my list, but that’s the point it’s MY list.  You can give me your list if you like.

There is a vicious rumor floating around that I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas.  Now, don’t misunderstand the rumor.  I’m a huge fan of Jesus, but some have suggested I’m kind of a Scrooge when it comes to the festivities.  You can make your decision about me however you like.

Anyway, here’s the top 5 things I really like about Christmas:

1. I like the spirit of anticipation.  Whether it’s the kids counting down the number of days or the savvy shoppers looking to make all the purchases before the clock strikes I like that people are living in anticipation.  (As Christians that spirit ought to be the mark of our lives.)
2. I like the reality that in those last few days of the year people deprioritize work and just have more fun.  I think it should be that way the whole year through, but it isn’t and maybe that’s why Christmas is so much fun.
3. I like the joy you see in people eyes and faces right after the Christmas Eve service is over.  There’s just something about that evening and people being there and talking and laughing and wishing everyone a “Merry Christmas” that just makes the whole thing feel right.
4. I like going home after the service, eating some soup, and waiting for the kids to go to bed.  BTW:  Let me pause here and say two things specifically about this thought.  First, this is about the only time soup is an appropriate dinner.  To me, it’s kind of like you are greasing your throat and preparing your stomach for what will happen to it just a few hours later.  Second, over the past couple of years we’ve done this soup thing with some of our close friends (Andrew and Stephanie Turner) and it’s like the real highlight of my whole Christmas.
5. I like moment the kids wake up, head down the stairs, and see the bounty.  There’s nothing better than seeing joy and excitement in the face of innocence.  It’s like all is right in the world for that split second.
6. I like making a big breakfast after the presents are open and the kids are playing with all they’ve received.  Breakfast never tastes better and it’s a great start to the whole rest of the day.

Every year people go through the same process.  They wrestle with what to give to those they love, care about, or simply desire to bless.  In our setting (the U.S.) we are incredibly fortunate that God has already provided us with so much.  In fact, in many instances I find myself asking, “What can I give to _______________ he/she already has everything they want.”  Can you relate to that?  Can you relate to it on both sides of the conversation?  I mean, do you when asked, “What do you want for Christmas?” find yourself kind of making ideas up because for all intents and purposes you don’t want anything you don’t already have.

Anyway, over the weekend I received a note from one of the missionaries we support.  She included a lot of what was taking place in her own life, but she also included a thought that has resonated with me for several days now.  I thought her words would be fitting for this as well.

She wrote, “A little over a year ago, the China Daily, China’s English newspaper, reported that there are nearly 300,000 suicides per year in China, one fourth of the world’s total.  Among people ages 15-34, suicide is the leading cause of death; overall it’s fifth.  Every two minutes in this country, one person commits suicide; while another eight make the attempt.

I brought this topic up in my communication class last week.  I didn’t intend to provoke a discussion.  We were talking about crossing cultures in the classroom, and I gave my students a list of scenarios to analyze, situations foreign teachers in China sometimes face.  One of the scenarios involved a teacher who thought a student was contemplating suicide.   Realizing my students needed more information about their own country, I followed up with an email referring to the China Daily article.

In class, one student mentioned she’d had two different students who attempted suicide.  Since my email, four other students have written back, one to tell me about a friend who tried to take her own life, two to say they’d contemplated suicide themselves.  Another engaged me in conversation along with her mom via my student’s text messaging.

In a week that began with a two-day holiday for Corban, the Muslim festival that commemorates Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son, I’ve been pondering the prevalence of suicide in China.  Comparing life in China to life in the United States and other places of wealth, people here might say that lack of opportunity and destitute living conditions are at fault.  It is true that my life and your life are much easier than the lives of the people here.  I wish I could help you see that.  But take away my friends and family, my opportunities — which have been many, my comfortable apartment, and my often overfull belly, and I still wouldn’t end my own life.  Neither would you.  Why?  Because of hope.  Even when everything else is stripped away, there’s always Hope!

I’ve been thinking about gifts I could give some of my friends for Christmas.  What I’d most like to do is wrap up hope and put it under my tree for them.  Then, when MA degrees and religious rituals turn out empty, when longed for jobs bring disillusionment, and marriage and parenting become burdens, they will still have Hope.”

As I read those words I thought to myself, the situations and circumstances around the world are many and they are diverse.  Yet, we all have the most basic and common of needs.  We all need hope.

What do we get for those who seemingly have it all?  We get them that which they can’t possibly purchase for themselves.  We give them the free gift of hope in Jesus Christ.

Occasionally I get asked about what it takes to preach or how you go about preparing a message or some other type of question that shows interest in what I do.  For the most part the way I’ve chosen to explain the responsibility of preaching is to basically say, “Preaching and putting together a message is a lot like studying and writing a term paper.  Then getting up at the end of the week and presenting your paper to an audience who may or may not have much knowledge, experience, or even interest in what you’re presenting.  Sometimes it’s good.  Sometimes it’s bad.  Sometimes you just wish you had more time to work through all or some of the details just so you could make it more clear or more challenging or even more creative.”  But Sundays come around with an amazing sense of regularity and you just can’t say to those who have gathered, “Hey, thanks for coming this week, but we really don’t have anything to say today.  It might be ready in the next day or two.”

Well, I tell you that to say that often after the message people will stop and say, “That was a good message.”  “I thought you were speaking right to me.”  “I really connected with what you were saying.”   Sometimes I’m sure people say things like that to be polite and kind.  It’s kind of like telling new parents, “That’s the cutest baby I’ve ever seen.”  You just want to encourage them and support them.

At times, you may get the sense that those kinds of comments don’t matter to ministers or we don’t really pay attention to that stuff, but I’ll tell you (for the sake of most ministers and especially myself) those comments do matter.  Because there are some times when you get done preaching and you say to yourself, “Man, it’s a good thing God is involved in this whole process because if it were even slightly dependent upon me . . . I blew it.”

So, don’t read this and think I’m panning for more compliments or comments.  I just want you to know that I really do hear what people say about a message and it does matter and if on a given week a particular message resonates or it challenges or it simply meets you and encourages you where you are let me know because it just might be that know that will encourage me.