If I could Buy every American Christian a Gift Bag of Books and DVDs it would Include

Christmas gifts are fun to exchange during the holiday season.  We often do it at work or with friends.  Most often we'll exchange gifts with family around the holiday.  I was thinking about what I might give to American Christians to help them live out the truth of the scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I came up with this list of ten hypothetical items.  Sorry, I'm not Oprah Winfrey, these items won't turn up under your chair tomorrow.  If I had that kind of money I might consider it though!  

This list is not exhaustive, and I could've included many great books over history but I focused on fairly recent books based around ideas that need to grow within evangelicalism.  Thanks and enjoy :)

1. The Bible - even within evangelical Christianity the Bible needs to be read.  It needs to be read much more.  We can watch sermons, listen to Christian rock, and view snappy small group curriculums... but none of those things are the Bible.  The open Bible is the most deadly world changing force in the universe.  Yet many Christians, and I myself have been guilty of this from time to time; we're enveloped in all the evangelical culture, but our bible is closed.  First gift: Here's a fresh new Bible and multi-colored highlighters friend, lets get to work.  It's all in there.

2. How Shall We Then Live? By Francis Schaeffer.  The next gift from me to you is a great title by the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer.  I'm also including the DVD companion.  This is a must read for Christians: Audiobook, DVD series, kindle, nook, even the honest to goodness paperback copy, read this now.  Read it many times.  Worldview, it's about worldview and the shifts happening in western culture. It was written over 30 years ago yet it's spot on for the moments we face today.

3. The Truth Project DVD by Focus on the Family.  Hosted by Del Tackett this DVD series is simply astounding.  I thought it might be tacky or boring, but it was a shockingly powerful march through the foundations of the Christian worldview and Christian apologetics.  Vital, absolutely vital.  Every Christian needs to view this series. 

4. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton - This is a classic read on the philosophical defense of the Christian faith.  Chesterton wrote powerfully on the paradoxes within our faith.  This one is a must read, your welcome.  Available free on Librivox in audiobook form.

5. The Sky is Not Falling by Chuck Colson - The writings of Chuck Colson are vital to the current Christian generation who are often theologically illiterate, incapable of defending their faith, ignorant to religious liberty threats and the importance of Christian activity within politics. Chuck Colson speaks directly to current Christianity with his critiques on political issues and worldview, as well as engaging culture with the gospel. I have the audiobook version, because I love audiobooks.  Paperback is just as good too though.

6. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - Everyone should read Mere Christianity.  It's become a staple of modern evangelicalism, which is a very good thing.  C.S. Lewis in this book describes the reason behind believing in the God of the Bible.  This book was formed from a series of broadcasts given on BBC radio by C.S. Lewis regarding belief in God long ago.  But this book remains highly relevant today.  Enjoy.

7. The Conviction to Lead by Albert Mohler - We live in a time in history when there is a great vacuum in leadership.  Good men are prevented from leading while small men intent on enriching themselves tend to lead in government and in religious fields.  It's an ugly state of affairs.  But thankfully Dr. Mohler has written a wonderful treatise on how to boldly lead based on biblical convictions.  Audiobook format I enjoyed greatly... your welcome.  Be a great leader, do it for Jesus, not for dollars.  We're tired of clowns on television who do it for dollars.  We're tired of "evangelical" rock stars and pastors intent on making money and showing how important they are.  Instead of that, be a leader of conviction.

8. Unraveling the Origins Controversy by David DeWitt - We need to understand our own origins.  We're taught evolution, over billions of years, from rocks to men, but that just isn't biblical.  It doesn't make sense either.  Therefore I'm including an excellent book by Dr. David DeWitt which covers everything on the origin of the universe.  It's an incredible book.  I studied it for a class at Liberty University.  It's great, enjoy.

9. The Weight of Glory and other Addresses by C.S. Lewis - This is a great read/audiobook.  I love it actually.  I got it for you specifically because of one of the essays on it called "Why I am Not a Pacifist."  It was by given C.S. Lewis to a pacifist society in the United Kingdom, during World War II.  A lot of people today seem to think that Jesus was some sort of nicer-than-nice pacifist hippie.  I think it's pretty clear from the King of kings descriptions in Revelation and other books of the Bible that Jesus is not a pacifist.  But this essay in particular changed everything.  I thought Jesus meant love and submission "unqualified" in the scriptures and that any violence or fighting back was wrong.  C.S. Lewis changed my mind.  I went to the scriptures to see if Lewis was right, sure enough, he was.  Enjoy.

10. The Gospel of John (movie) - This movie changed my life.  Well, Jesus Christ changed my life.  But you get what I mean.  I was never very good at reading.  Ironic, since I write so much.  Anyway, when my cousin gave me this movie, which is word-for-word John's gospel (GNT) I must've watched it over one hundred times.  Why?  The words of the scriptures bring the Spirit of God.  So I listened and watched.  Eventually this led me to cry out to Jesus Christ in submission and request for help.  Then my life changed forever.  It's very well done, not corny at all.  Use it as another way to expose yourself to the scriptures.  

I almost got you...
Mining for God (DVD) featuring William Lane Craig, others.
Evolution vs. God by Living Waters (DVD)
Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

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Volunteers are Awesome: They Change the World

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Thank God for volunteers. They change the world. I’m completely serious right now. God bless volunteers. What would we do without them? Well, I imagine we’d do a lot less. 

I’ve often wondered at what I could do in the world with 10 good men. Or 10 good women. Imagine what a church can do with 10 good volunteers? It changes everything. It’s no longer a minister or two against the world. Its a team, then an army, and pretty soon a movement!  

Lay ministers, lay staff, as they call them are real game changers. It changes an impact from hundreds to tens of thousands. There’s a crisis of volunteers I think. I work in the Salvation Army, and at our corps we generally have good amounts of volunteers. Well, it depends on the corp. The corp I work at is blessed with a lot of volunteers. But none of them are under fifty. That’s just a fact. 

Millennials like myself are hard to coral into a community, or into doing free work. Volunteering is essentially working and helping for free. Millennials aren’t too concerned with being in community, despite the growing and intense loneliness expressed by those who spend a great deal of time on social media. Let me suggest to millennials: Be part of a community. Make a commitment, good times and bad, to be a part of something greater than yourself.

Choose wisely. Of course I’m going to suggest the Salvation Army in your area! Why not? Salvation Army takes Christianity to the extreme. And we millennials are often extreme. We want to do things that have meaning. It’s not extravagant, packing boxes and hauling carts full of food, but it’s more meaningful than all the videogames, social media, nights at the bar, and party events combined. 

Change the world. That’s what your always saying millennials, so do it. Do it the nitty gritty real way, by working hard in the thankless role of the volunteer. Nobody is going to toot your horn when you’re a volunteer, well, aside from me. 

Volunteers change the world. I love volunteers. Watching volunteers work hard, day and night is the most encouraging thing. I want to cry when I see them, because they are so wonderful. 

Yet even if millennials aren’t willing to grow up and step into charity service, church service, and food pantry volunteering don’t worry, they’ll still end up in the same place. We regularly receive volunteers from the county jail and from young people on probation! So either way, young adults end up at the pantry sorting goods. Either they come to volunteer, or they come to get out of the jail for a few hours. I prefer volunteers, but either way it'll happen.  Young adults will have to find a way to grow up and become a part of community, or they can remain children behind bars. It’s a conundrum. 

I’ve found it very rewarding to engage in community. I never did in the past. I thought it was stupid and I preferred to be on my computer or playing videogames. Yet when I cleaned up and found Jesus, I began to enjoy community and fellowship. I slowly stepped back into the world. I slowly became a part of community, even though it was at times difficult and strenuous. Often it was so difficult to deal with personalities and annoying people that I almost withdrew again. But I stuck it out. The benefits of long term friendships and relationships far outweighs the pains of disagreements, conflicts, and annoyances. 

Thank God for volunteers. They change the world. Without volunteers charities couldn’t function. Without volunteers food pantries would be empty. And I could say the same for donors, who are so generous in the United States. They give so much and it’s wonderful to see. It’s amazing to see businesses stand for the good of the community. It’s crushed much of my own pessimism in life, seeing the generosity of so many toward our causes. 

I never really cared about charity, about religious organizations, and really about much of anything to do with civilized society. I just wanted to have fun. Today, after meeting Jesus I’m in love with non-profits, religious charities and organizations that generously serve their communities through donations. And most of all I’m in love with volunteers who take time outside of their work schedules to serve causes they believe in. 

As much as I talked big in the past about wanting to help the world and save the world, I could never manage to step into a non-profit and volunteer my time. Isn’t that interesting? As much as I sat around smoking pot and philosophizing about the latest liberal hope for humanity, I never really did anything about it. Now that I know Jesus, I do it unto the Lord. And I know it matters. 

Thank God for volunteers. They change the world, when so many talk big but don’t deliver, they actually step forward and do the work. Are you called to volunteer your time? It doesn’t have to be 15-30 hours a week. You could volunteer 1 hour a week, or even 1 hour a month. I’m calling on all people, most importantly young adults and millennials to break the selfishness mold in our culture and volunteer in meaningful ways in our communities. Be the change in the world. Do it for the Lord. Take care, God bless you, amen. 

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A Time for Christ: How Can I Set a New Standard this Christmas Season?

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Christmas season is well upon us, and I find myself asking this question: How can I make this time of year about Christ? How can I make him the centerpiece of my Christmas season? 

That was how it was designed actually. Many Christians say that the Christmas season is pagan; all the rituals are pagan in origin. They are actually somewhat right. But they are also quite wrong. In the ancient Roman empire the first Christians were attempting to evangelize the pagan spiritualists, gnostics, syncretists, and other faiths within the empire. They did this quite effectively by “converting” pagan holidays into Christian holidays. It’s a highly advanced form of missionary evangelism centered on allowing the individuals to remain within their cultural context. The sadly ineffective counterpart to this cultural approach is mission station evangelism which tends to attract only a few who are already out-casted from their current culture. 

Christians in those days took many of the symbols used by pagans and rewrote them to have Christian meaning. That way these new Christians could still have a similar ritual while centering the event on Jesus Christ. This helped transform and renew culture in the Roman empire. The final result of the efforts of these first Christians in the ancient Roman empire? They went from a persecuted minority to spreading across the entire empire. They went from being burned at the stake by Nero to being sanctioned and encouraged by Constantine.

God teaches us through the Old Testament to always remember what he has done for us. He taught the ancient Israelite's to celebrate yearly feasts like: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths.  The festivals were important because they reminded Israel that God was God and always would be their God. 

He taught them write the words of the OT laws on places in their homes, and to discuss them continuously.

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
 -Joshua 1:8 NIV

Into the New Testament, the church forming in that time regularly met together to rejoice in the wonderful grace of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:42-47. Click here for more scriptures on gathering together.)

I need those same reminders today, in the Christmas season, to keep me centered on Jesus Christ. I need it next year too. My family needs those same reminders, every year. We need to be reminded. We need to retell the story of how God came into the world to redeem his people. 

That’s what Christmas is really about. It’s about recalling Jesus Christ and sharing the story that changed the world. 

I can certainly understand and sympathize with those who call to “keep Christ in Christmas.” I’ve noticed some Christians, bloggers and others on the internet seem determined to shame those who want to keep Christ in Christmas. I guess I don’t understand why. These are good people trying to engage in the culture and keep Christmas as a centerpiece of American life. There isn’t anything wrong with that. Maybe we younger bloggers and writers could learn from the example of those who take a stand for religious thought on the calendar of humanity. After all history itself, time itself centers around Jesus Christ: B.C and A.D. 

Cultural engagement is so very important to the cause of Christ. And just as important is political engagement. Once again many younger, I think perhaps more "millennial-minded" Christians are intent on shaming those who protest, take a stand, or engage in the political and cultural arenas. I don’t understand why in this case either. I think it goes to a basic ignorance regarding the history of religious thought in western civilization, and a basic ignorance of the looming threats to religious liberty in the west. They just want to evangelize, which is great, but they don’t seem to realize that the freedom to evangelize is found within the political sphere. And it does in fact face imminent attack: Click here to read a PDF account of over 1,600 attacks on religious liberty in the USA: Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility Toward Religion in America by Liberty Institute.

But Jesus wasn’t into politics. Wasn’t he? The political leaders of the time were the Pharisees, did he ever confront them? Yes he did.  Jesus didn't lead a revolution against the pharisees or the Roman authorities through strength of arms, but he did lead a spiritual revolution.  And it changed the world forever.

Yet even if that reasoning isn't sufficient to convince, here is a simple argument: Romans 13:1 says "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."  In that period of time this meant obeying the laws of the Roman empire and the will of the emperor (as long as it didn't interfere with responsibility to God.)  Today we live in a country considered a constitutional republic.  Part of being a citizen of a constitutional republic is the civic duty of electing leaders and participating in the government.  Therefore, to obey the teaching in Romans 13 to obey governing authorities we have a civic responsibility to participate in our participatory democracy. 
 

The church Jesus founded has constantly changed and transformed cultures and civilizations across history. We need to be aware of the history and story of our faith across time, and the threats to our freedom to speak about Christ today. Some of us younger bloggers, maybe we need to turn down the Christian rock, tone down the contemporary worship service, shut off the TV, and start doing some real research on religious liberty, Christian history, and cultural engagement. 

Don’t shoot other Christians when they say, “keep Christ in Christmas.” They are fighting against a secularization taking place in our culture. If you can’t see it, it’s because you were born into it friend. I couldn’t see it at first either. I had to learn and see it. 

I had to read books like How Should we then Live? by Francis Schaeffer (and the companion DVD) and the Sky is Not Falling by Charles Colson. I had to watch documentaries like: Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed. I had to view the Truth Project series by Focus on the Family. I had to go to websites like the ACLJ, Liberty Institute, and Alliance defending Freedom and read their articles on religious liberty. I had to dig into things.  I would encourage all Christians to do the same.  We need to be educated on these issues.

We followers of Jesus need to constantly remind ourselves of the path behind us, our current road, and the way ahead. In so doing we can contend with key issues like gay marriage, abortion, religious liberty, naturalism, scientism, post-modernism, and many other issues.  We remain in Christ, in the Christian worldview more thoroughly when we discover the contending worldviews. We remain in the moment, relevant and able to speak meaningfully on key issues.  Including issues within the realm of Christmas, like the Christian message, how it inter-relates to government, culture, and business.  And it's tough.  Many want to remove all mention of religious thought from seemingly every aspect of our lives, until the only place we can practice our faith is in the chapel an hour a week.  They want forced equality in every area, including religion.

That would be reasonable if Christianity were just a myth, but it's true.  Since it's true, it ought to be at the center of American life.  Not forced on anyone, but when a majority hold to the Christian faith, we ought to allow it's inclusion in all aspects of life, not just in the chapel.  If people get offended, fair enough, a lot of things offend me too!  I'm offended by the depravity on the television everyday.  I'm offended by Miley Cyrus twerking on a guy wearing a black piece of plastic strapped to his crotch.  The culture looks at that and thinks "no problem, shes just expressing herself" but when they see a Christian praying at his workplace they go crazy, and they're mad and offended.  That's just ridiculous if you ask me.

This world is hard to understand.  Yet here we are, in the Christmas season.  Christmas, well, Christmas... It’s a tough thing to understand. Somehow the message of Christ has been lost or at least de-emphasized. It’s become more about giving gifts to one another, the bright tree, the lights on the houses, eating lavish meals, and buying more and more stuff. That’s how it always was in my family. There was really little to no mention of Christ. My grandpa would give a one liner before the meal.  We'd smile at his old traditions. My Grandma on the other side of the family would usually mention something quick.  We'd wait patiently for her to finish, somewhat annoyed, then move on.  That was about it. 

 

Today being a born again Christian I look at those family routines and I wonder to myself, how can I set a different precedent in my family? I’m sure one day I’ll be married, with children; How can I establish a tradition in my family that places Christ at the forefront?

I saw a tree on Facebook being shared, going viral, a tree shaped like a cross with lights on it. On the wall next to it were Christian images like the cross. It was beautiful. I thought, now that’s a wonderful way to keep Christ at the center. Me and my family, we could kneel down together on Christmas morning and pray to the Lord. We could sing songs together, praising the Lord. My wife and I could share a short message, a devotional of the story of how Jesus came into the world. We could then give gifts to one another, preempting the gift giving with an indication that Jesus gave us the ultimate gift of eternal life. 

“We give gifts to one another because he taught us to love another and serve one another.” 

Jesus said,“love one another, as I have loved you so you must love one another.” 

We could then eat a meal, praying before the meal and knowing that God is the provider of all our needs. Then we could watch cheesy Christian Christmas movies. 

I imagine that’s how Christmas was 100 years ago in the United States. It was a truly Christian nation.  Every aspect of life was centered of the Bible.  And that worked very well.  The Bible was taught in school.  Prayer was in school.  And it worked really well.  It produced the greatest generation.  But try learning that in public school today!  I had to dig for the facts regarding Christianity's centrality to the USA.  It was like religious facts were specifically excluded from histories and accounts, or at least minimized.  I had to do serious independent study to learn these things.  The famed evangelical leader Albert Mohler referred to it in "The Conviction to Lead" as an intentional subversion.  And he said he sees his job as subverting the subversion.  I wonder, has Christmas been subverted?  If so, how can I subvert the subversion?

When I was growing up I thought Christmas was all about Santa Claus!  They taught us this bogus story that Christmas was about a heavy set bearded guy in red, from Germany, that gave gifts to people down their chimneys. They also said that somehow this story was repeated in cultures all over the world. And they would teach us the names of Satan Claws, I mean Santa Claus in various languages. How’s that for a half-baked syncretist distortion of the meaning of Christmas? 

Christmas is about Jesus. But we see this spiritual battle in our world manifested by the changing meanings of Christmas, Easter, and other holidays from days of reverence to days of self indulgence and sin. It’s amazing to witness. 

The Christmas season is about Jesus. But we have to fight to keep that meaning within it. Other meanings, produced by the spiritual battles in the high places attempt to shift that meaning to something else entirely. Same thing with consumerism, it pushes that process along because selfishness means profits for big business. But it’s all about Jesus. In fact everyday is about Jesus. But we form certain times of the year to center our lives on the history within the Bible.  We center our calendar year around the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I want you to think about this carefully: How can you set a new standard within your family this Christmas season, to keep Christ at the center? It won’t always be an easy thing. We don’t like change. Our families may even mock us for our beliefs. But hopefully we can find a way to make Christmas about Christ. That was the original intent. If your heartset on not participating at all, because you believe Christmas is pagan in origin, fair enough, but perhaps you could find times of the year to remind you and your family of the wonderful gift of eternal life from Christ Jesus our Lord. 

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I'll Fight to bring the Light of God to the Lost Souls of Our Time!

The founder of the Salvation Army William Booth said, "While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight
While little children go hungry, as they do now,
I'll fight
While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight
While there is a drunkard left,
While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets,
While there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight, I'll fight to the very end!” 

At the beginning of December every year the Salvation Army honors this powerful statement with "I'll Fight" Day. 

Many of us were lost, addicted, troubled, and very self destructive. Personally I used to sit around every day complaining, loaded up on this or that, running my mouth. I was so good at victimizing myself and portraying every situation as a tragedy happening to me.
I always said, "I want change!" But while I said it, I sat there and did nothing. I smoked pot, drank, sat on the internet, and wanted change.

Today, I am the change. I'm doing something. 

William Booth said, "Do something!" 

Today, I do something. The world is a scary place. Someone has to stand up. Will you?

Someone else isn't going to stand up. Everyone is headed for the bar, the club, the strip joint, or the dope house. Everyone is headed to the white picket fence, the big bank account, the luxury lifestyle, and such selfish endeavors.

If someone is going to take a stand, it's got to be me and you. There is no one else. If you're reading these words, it's you. Others aren't going to take our place. Either we do something special, now, today, or we watch the world, our country slide deeper and deeper into darkness. You know I'm right. Take a stand.

In the past I sat around smoking dope and complaining saying "I want change." Today I serve in the Salvation Army; today I am the change. I'm through complaining, today I'm doing. Thank God for that. There is nothing worse than sitting around feeling sorry for yourself because we all got such a raw deal. 

Will you fight? I'll fight.

Today I'll fight. Tomorrow I'll keep fighting. 

While women are sold into sex slavery, as they are today, I'll fight
While unborn children are given over to death, as they are today, I'll fight
While men are drug addicted and lost, as they are today, I'll fight
While young people die in mass shootings, while a single child in India goes hungry, while there remains one lost soul, without the light of Christ, I'll fight
I'll fight to the very end!

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