Christmas Every Day

 It is the Christmas season!  Entire streets sparkle with multi-colored lights.  Christmas music echoes in the malls.  Traditional performances inspire us: The Messiah, The Nutcracker; A Christmas Carol; White Christmas along with children’s pageants at school and church.  What would Christmas be without 6 and 7 year-old magi, shepherds and angels retelling the story while parents capture it all on video?   

 Holiday movies dominate our screens, big and small: It’s A Wonderful Life!; Miracle on 34^th Street; The Grinch Who Stole Christmas; The Santa Clause and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever which I watched with my grandchildren.  The Herdmans got it right.

 We search for Christmas in the spectacular: the spectacular event, spectacular lights, the spectacular gift. We want to re-create the perfect Christmas moment that we wish exemplified our lives. 

 The first Christmas had little resemblance to our contemporary traditions. The birth of Christ occurred in the chaos of the common and the ordinary: a common stable surrounded by common animals in a common village.  Few took notice. There was no extravaganza staged in the cities. The angels’ announcement occurred in a remote region with only a few simple shepherds present.  The Magi, who observed the star in the east, came and went almost unnoticed.  

 It was for the common and the ordinary that Christ came.  He grew up in a carpenter’s shop in the remote village of Nazareth.  He owned no house and had no possessions.  He had no place to lay his head.  And, after a brief public ministry in which he healed and taught thousands, he died upon a common cross outside Jerusalem and was buried in a borrowed tomb.  In birth, life and death, Jesus redeemed the common and the ordinary and elevated each of us to an extraordinary relationship with God. 

 The first Christmas was an “out of control” event for Mary and Joseph.  The tax summons that took them to Bethlehem could not have come at a worse time.  The baby was due.  She was in no condition for such a long and arduous journey. When they arrived, the town was a bedlam of people.  No one wanted to be there.  They had come because they were obligated under Roman law. Of course, it was not out of God’s control. What appeared to be an onerous obligation and an inconvenient time was actually a fulfillment of prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. 

 Perhaps God planned it this way to teach us that His intervention must be experienced in the common and the ordinary chaos of life. When we look for Christmas in the spectacular, we can only experience it once a year. But when we discover Christmas in the common and the chaotic, it can change our life every day.

Marriage - A Journey

 Next week my wife and I will celebrate our 57th anniversary. I always thought people who reached their 50^th were old.  Why aren’t we?  I still feel young when I look in her eyes. We blew past our 50^th.  

  December 21, 1968 we exchanged vows.  I lifted her veil, kissed her and we left the altar hand-in-hand to start a journey that has spanned more than half a century.  We left the church in my 1960 Chevy Impala, the kind with fins. I opened her door, she took her seat, and we started our journey.  No seatbelts! Apollo 8 launched the day we were married, the first manned flight to leave earth’s orbit.  Neither of us imagined the journey we started that day would take us “to the moon and back.”  Or so it seems.

 We have embraced orphans in Brazil and watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace; viewed Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistine Chapel and visited St Peter’s Basilica; walked along the canals of Venice; stood on the mountains overlooking Salzburg; watched the striking of the clock in Prague; spent a summer in  Nuremburg and rode the trains across Bavaria;  visited Luther’s House in Wittenburg and Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s home in Berlin; toured the DMZ between North and South Korea, met at 6 am to pray with believers at a Korean church in Seoul.  We stood where Jesus stood on he shore of the Sea of Galilee and walked the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem.

 You can go a lot of places and see a lot of things in 50 years.

 We have experienced sorrow and loss, the death of parents and loved ones. We have wept beside their caskets, said our goodbyes and comforted one another.  We have known discouragement and disappointment.  We have celebrated victory and accomplishment. We have wondered in awe at the miracle of children and grandchildren.  We have experienced God’s presence, seen His glory and worshipped in many languages.

 At our wedding my college roommate sang Savior Like A Shepherd Lead Us.  It is still our song.

Savior, like a shepherd lead us, much we need Thy tender care;
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us, for our use Thy folds prepare.
We are Thine, Thou dost befriend us, be the Guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us, seek us when we go astray.
Thou hast promised to receive us, poor and sinful though we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us, grace to cleanse and pow’r to free.
Early let us seek Thy favor, early let us do Thy will;
Blessed Lord and only Savior, with Thy love our bosoms fill.

Our faith, our gratitude and our love for one another is far deeper than it was on the day we climbed into my ’60 Chevy.  We know that old age will come, dying will come and our parting will come.  But we know better than we knew in our youth that His grace is sufficient.  His promise is true.  “You who have been borne by Me from birth and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; and I will bear you and I will deliver you,” (Isaiah 46:3-5)

My book, The Jesus Encounter, is FREE as an eBook on Amazon this week, Dec. 16-20.

Christmas and Prejudice

 We are entering the Christmas season, for many a season for fairies, elves and fantasy.  But the Christmas of history is much more than that.  It is full of undercurrents that speak to issues we face daily.  Increasingly we must deal with prejudice, suspicion, resentment that is often fueled by politicians. These issues are intertwined with the Christmas story and the life of Jesus.

 The presence of the Magi at Bethlehem is not an afterthought.  They are integral to the larger purposes of God at the nativity.  They represent the fulfillment of prophecy that the newborn babe was sent, “at the fulness of time,” for all peoples. Isaiah wrote: “I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison,” (Isaiah 42:6-7).

 The record of Herod’s slaughter of Bethlehem’s male children two years and younger reminds us that rulers have always found a way to inflict violence on the innocent.  Jesus was spared only because Joseph, warned in a dream, took his wife and child to Egypt.  They became refugees seeking safety like the Somalians and many others who seek safety in the United States.

 Jesus’ family returned to Nazareth when the danger dissipated with Herod’s death.  It was there that Jesus matured into manhood.  After launching his public ministry those who had known him as a young adult rejected him.  “ Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are His sisters not here with us?” And they took offense at Him,” (Mark 6:3). 

  Their offense was heightened when he attacked their prejudice, reminding them that Elijah ministered to a Sidonian widow rather than an Israelite, and that Elisha did not heal lepers in Israel, but Naaman, a Syrian.  As a result, Luke says “ they got up and drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff. But He passed through their midst and went on His way,” (Luke 4:29-30).

 He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, made friends with Samaritans, healed the servant of a Roman centurion.  In Jerusalem the religious leaders were incensed because Jesus violated their prejudices and undercut their traditions. Consequently, they crucified him.

 We want to reject those who are not like us.  We are threatened by those who hold different beliefs, speak different languages, observe different customs.  We must always be on guard for the dark shadow of prejudice that stalks us all.  Jesus taught us to embrace all people of every nationality and every ethnicity.  During this Christmas season, and any season, we must not dismiss anyone as “garbage.”

Tinsley's novel, Bold Springs, is free on Amazon eBook Dec. 9-13.  Reader's Favorite chose it as Best Christian Historical Fiction, 2022. 

Putting Jesus' Words Into Practice

 Twelve years ago, world leaders including then President Obama and former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter traveled to South Africa for Nelson Mandela’s funeral.  Mandela died December 1, 2013.  

 As a young black lawyer in South Africa, Mandela became the leader in the movement to eliminate apartheid, the South African set of laws that discriminated against Blacks and Asians.  When his influence became a threat to those in power, he was imprisoned at Robben Island for 27 years. Mandela emerged from prison unbroken, taking up his earlier mantra to live for freedom or to die for it.  He was swept to power as President of South Africa four years after his release.

 Mandela’s story would be remarkable simply because he was able to rise from rural obscurity to national and international prominence.  It is more remarkable given his election as President of South Africa after spending 27 years in prison as an enemy of the government.  But it is most remarkable because when he was bestowed with power as President, he refused retaliation and chose forgiveness and reconciliation.

 How did he come to this position?  How did he rise above the natural passions of vengeance, hatred and corruption that control most men, especially those who come to power?

 

In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela states that he early became a member of the Methodist church, like his mother, and started his education in a Methodist school run by missionaries.  Later, when he was a young man he “became a member of the Students Christian Association and taught Bible classes on Sundays in neighboring villages.”  Perhaps in those early beginnings the seeds of his ultimate success were sown. In his autobiography, Mandela wrote, “ I saw that virtually all of the achievements of Africans seemed to have come about through the missionary work of the Church."

 But the record of Christian influence in South Africa, as elsewhere, has its issues. In South Africa as in the American pre-Civil War South, the systems of racial subjugation and prejudice found support in the churches.  Speaking of Apartheid, Mandela wrote, “The policy was supported by the Dutch Reformed Church, which furnished apartheid with its religious underpinnings … In the Afrikaner’s worldview, apartheid and the church went hand in hand.” 

 Many who profess faith in Christ are prone to adopt the world’s systems with its prejudices and presumptions rather than follow the teachings of Christ. It is, in the end, the degree that we implement the teachings of Jesus, regardless of denomination or affiliation, that makes the greatest difference. Jesus set the example by which we are to forgive as we have been forgiven, to love our enemies and do good for them.

 In 1994, Mandela addressed an Easter conference and spoke of "… the Good News borne by our risen Messiah who chose not one race, who chose not one country, who chose not one language, who chose not one tribe, who chose all of humankind!”

 Nelson Mandela is a reminder that when one man is willing to put into practice the radical teaching of Jesus, he can change the world.  In our families, our jobs, our schools and our communities, we can, every one of us, practice forgiveness, acceptance, respect and faith that transforms the world.

The Weight of Glory

 I started writing this column 16 years ago in 2009 when I was a young man of 62. It has been published in newspapers from Texas to California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Florida and states in between.  Online it has received over 400,000 views.  I reached my seventies without spending a night in the hospital.  In the last 6 years I have been hospitalized twice.  Both were emergencies that would have been fatal without exceptional medical care.  I am grateful. Next week, I will celebrate my 79^th birthday.  I am bumping up on 80!

 Aging is inevitable.  The Apostle Paul expressed his view of aging like this. “Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal,” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

 Two months ago, my high school graduating class met for our 60^th year reunion.  About two thirds of our class still survive, but we hardly recognize one another.  For the last 10 years 4 of us who were classmates in first grade meet annually with a few others who attended the same high school.  Next year we hope to add a fifth person from our first-grade class. As Paul put it, our outer man is decaying.  We cannot replace the friends of our childhood, and we cannot hide old age.

 Regardless of our aging outer man, we all have an “inner man.”  Most of us don’t think of ourselves as old, until we try move, especially when we try to move fast.  For some the inner man is decaying along with the outer man, becoming more cynical, bitter, resentful, isolated and alone.  But for those who have faith in Christ, the opposite happens.  Our inner man is being renewed daily so that, in spite of whatever afflictions we endure, an eternal weight of glory continues to grow. 

 I have a best friend whom I have known for 50 years.  He is 91. I performed weddings for all his children and his granddaughter.  Eight years ago I preached his wife’s funeral.  We visit almost daily.  Increasingly he spends his days in prayer for others, looking forward to that day when the weight of glory that is within will be realized in heaven.

 Putting aside the ambitions, doubts and uncertainties of youth, we find increasing contentment in the small things … watching grandchildren grow, encouraging the younger generation, looking forward to eternal life in another dimension whose beauty far exceeds the majesty of mountains, forests, rivers lakes and oceans.  Science constantly reminds us that all that is seen is temporary, including not only the earth and our solar system, but the universe as well.  As Paul affirms, it is the unseen that sustains and inspires us.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

 The trees have turned.  Most have lost their leaves.  Invigorating cool air has spilled across the land.  Families are getting ready for Thanksgiving.  Some prepare for children to come home.  Others make plans to travel.  Thoughts turn to turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, pumpkin and pecan pie. Football is in the air.  I like Thanksgiving and the American traditions that go along with it.

 Thanksgiving is special to the American experience.  From the time we are children, we are taught to remember the Pilgrims who feasted with their Indian friends in 1621, giving thanks for their survival in the new world. In some schools children will walk out on stage wearing flat brimmed pilgrim hats and painted faces to re-enact the first Thanksgiving in front of adoring parents.

 George Washington signed the first Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789.  But the official annual holiday began in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln set aside the fourth Thursday of November as a day for giving thanks.  When he issued his proclamation, our nation was embroiled in Civil War. Young men by the thousands lay dead on the battlefields.  Families were gripped with grief.  But a wounded nation found solace for its soul by seeking a grateful heart.

 In times of prosperity and want, in times of war and peace, during the Great Depression, the Great Recession, we have paused as a nation on this final Thursday of November to remember and to be thankful.  For this one day, at least, we make sure that the homeless and the hungry are fed. On this day, we lay down our tools, close our computers and gather around tables with those whom we love the most.  We simply pause to enjoy one another and the goodness with which God has blessed us.

 Nothing is more important than cultivating a grateful and thankful heart.  We all experience blessing and loss.  God sends his rain on the just and the unjust.  The faithful and the unfaithful must weather the same storms. We all experience life and love that we do not deserve.  We will all suffer disappointment, injustice and pain.  Illness will come. The loss of loved ones will come.  The same circumstances sow the seeds of bitterness and resentment, thankfulness and gratitude. The former leads to death.  The latter leads to life. 

 The Bible is clear about the importance of thanksgiving.  The Psalms are filled with thanksgiving and praise.  Jeremiah envisioned desolate Jerusalem restored with gratitude saying: “the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.’" (Jer. 33:11).  Paul wrote, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”  (Colossians 2:6). 

Response To Confusing Times

  Five years ago, on a beautiful evening in Colorado, we opened our windows to a refreshing breeze of mountain air.  We listened to the stillness, interrupted by the distinct sounds of howling.  We stepped outside.  It is not entirely unusual for coyotes to howl in the open spaces of the Front Range that sweep up to the foothills and the towering snow-capped mountains.  But these howls were coming from the wrong direction. They were echoing from the streets of our neighborhood.

 What we were hearing was a phenomenon that swept our nation during Covid.  People emerged from their “stay at home” shelters at 8 PM in the evening and howled!  For some it was a protest, a way to “let off steam” from being cooped up and shut in. But for most it was a way of connecting with strangers and shouting support for those who continued working on the “front lines” of the coronavirus crisis. 

 The next day this message appeared in our neighborhood blog: “I work in the Emergency Department for UC Health.  … Last night as I parked in our garage, I heard a riot of howls from around our neighborhood … I want each of you howlers to know that your support helped lift the tired heart and soul of someone who somedays wonders if what I did was enough.  Last night it brought a tear to my eyes and a big lump in my throat.  It is a pleasure to be your neighbor, and an honor to help support our community.” 

 Covid taught us to stick together, encourage one another and care for our neighbor.  During these confusing days of 2025, we need to remember that lesson.  Last night I went outside after dark to put out our trash.  While standing in the driveway, an Amazon van pulled up and stopped.  A young woman came bouncing out and handed me a package my wife had ordered. I thanked her for doing her job and making the delivery. She gushed her thanks.

 While she made a few more stops at the end of our cul-de-sac, my neighbors across the street called my name.  Their 2-year-old daughter knows me.  When the Amazon driver stopped again across the street, I urged them to join me, all 5 of them: the 2-year-old, her mother, grandmother, grandfather and their snow-white bulldog, Rooney.  We gathered around as she returned from our neighbor’s porch.  I told her we were a “committee” from the neighborhood to thank her for delivering our packages. She melted in appreciation and said we made her day.

 During these trying times, countless people continue going about their jobs: making deliveries, serving fast food, stocking the stores, hauling off our trash, repairing our streets, keeping the wheels turning.  Thousands of government workers showed up for two months without pay. The one thing we all can do every day in every circumstance is encourage each other.

 We need to heed the instruction of Scripture: “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11).  “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus” (Romans 15:5).