by Aarron Pina | Dec 22, 2012 | Uncategorized
Christmas Chronicles
This Christmas, we’re honored to share with you part three of Daniel Diadiggo’s “Christmas Chronicles”. This is part three – for part 1 or part 2, click on the links.
#3 the inn-sider
Read:
[A]nd she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:7
Speak:
The Lord determined not only the time, but also the PLACE to insert Jesus.
Consider this place of God’s choosing.
The Lord commanded every possibility for luxury and comfort. He could have embedded among the elite, in a palace or with aristocrats. Instead, He placed Himself in the center of His promise. Here we find Jesus, God of the universe, through Whom all things were made, in Whom all things hold together – contained in the body of a baby.
Divinely swaddled and confined to… an animal trough.
A place where livestock feed.
Where they stick their dirty mouths and crunch their straw.
God placed Himself inside the center of the mess – and outside the mess of Jerusalem’s center.
In Jesus we have a Savior who became like us, so that we might become like Him.
Caleb (Diadiggo)’s Prayer:
Thank You, Lord for becoming like us, in order that we might become like You. Thank you for placing Yourself at the center of our mess so that we may know You and live for You. I ask that everyday You give us a bigger and bigger picture of You. Let us see our true inability apart from You in a way that we will find that there is nothing worth holding onto in this world but You.
Sing:
Away In a Manger
by Aarron Pina | Dec 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
It’s Time
In 1986, garbage was piling up on the streets of Philadelphia. The sanitation department was on strike. Joseph Paolino and Sons moved opportunistically securing a contract with the city that involved collecting, burning, incinerating and then removing the ash.
How? The ashes were piled on a freighter called The Pelicano with a disposal trip planned to a third word country. One problem. Joseph and Sons did not properly segregate the trash before feeding the incinerator.
Everything from orange peels and plastic to aluminum, copper, car batteries and light bulbs were blended together and in the end formed 28 million tons of toxic ash. Haiti, Honduras, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic… port after port turned them away. The Pelicano became the most unwanted ship in the world and for two years it went from point to port, refueling, but leaving with it’s garbage.
Can you relate? For 15 years I was the Pelicano…docking and refueling at church on Sundays and in a men’s group on Fridays, gaining some energy, but still leaving with my toxic garbage.
In Matthew 11:25 Jesus is getting ready to tell us how to get rid of our garbage…
He had just talked about the people and cities that would not repent. Now he thanks God that it is His plan to withhold the answer to those who consider themselves knowledgeable and wise, but reveals truth and reserves relationship for the childlike… a contrast to those who want to act independently of God and those who depend on the Father.
After this prayer of thanks, Jesus lays One Thing out: Come unto me all you who are weak and heavy laden…those carrying garbage around for years…and I will give you rest.
So what if Jesus had changed it up just a bit?… What if he said…and I will sell you rest. Would this be on your gift giving and gift getting list this Christmas?
How much would you pay?… Seriously…think about it!
The great news…it is free!
If you have been carrying a heavy load of trash, it’s time to lay it down.
As we are nearing December 24th and 25th…Christmas, It’s time…
Identify your garbage. All the trash that you no longer want to haul around.
Come to Jesus… lay it before Him, acknowledge…repent
Invest some necessary time around the closing verses of Matthew 11…
This Christmas I will precede our family gift-giving time by placing one wrapped package upfront and center….
Inside the package will be four wooden letters… R-E-S-T. …The perfect gift that Jesus is willing to freely give….
The heart of Christmas.
Men…somehow, in some way take the lead this Christmas and in a few memorable moments, with your family, from your personal experience, luxuriate this opportunity and share some dimension of what it means to “Come.”
One on one with Jesus, it’s time to discover rest.
– Ron Dunn
by Aarron Pina | Dec 19, 2012 | Uncategorized
A few years ago at a local dinner/event, I witnessed one of Dan Diadiggo’s family’s traditions, called “Christmas Chronicles”. For the next few days, as I take some time off from the blog to soak more thoroughly in the word and unclutter some of my own brain at year end, I’ve chosen to pass forward his Christmas Chronicles for your consumption and cogitation.
I hope as you disciple others it will serve as a helpful framework for sharing important truths about Christmas, Christ, and the God who loves us with a crazy, crazy love. It’s a tradition I’m sure the Pina family will adopt in years to come and I hope it proves to be a unique blessing to you as you and your family gather to celebrate the incarnation of a risen Savior.
—
#2 such a time as this
Read:
He went there with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born…
Luke 2:5-6
Speak:
Before God created the world He scheduled Jesus to touch down on its soil. Jesus entered this world according to a plan that God set in motion before Adam breathed his first. Long before there was a you or a me, there was a plan.
God’s plan –
a plan that involves us.
a that plan that requires Jesus.
Jesus took on flesh at exactly the right time to set us free for all time.
The Scriptures tell us the Lord determines the times and places set for us.
Think about this for a moment. He Who created the universe created you – and for such a time as this.
The people you meet, the opportunities you find and the trouble that finds you – these are divine appointments.
Uniquely yours. Entrusted to you by Jesus – Who is uniquely God.
Pray:
Thank you Lord for assigning me to a time such as this. Thank you for the opportunities and people you have placed before me – and for the good works You created for me to walk in. Thank you for the life You have breathed into me and for the days You have given me. Thank you Jesus, for joining me in time so that I might live with You in eternity.
by Aarron Pina | Dec 17, 2012 | Uncategorized
Lost the Plot, Did We?
Amazing how great and tragic loss gets us asking the right questions, isn’t it? Sad there are so many distractions to take our eyes off the plot. Ever felt so stuck in the swamp you forgot you were sent there to drain it? Then, you must have seen the news on Friday, too… Terrible that we have to lose dozens of precious children to get us to pray more fervently, attend church more faithfully (even at all), or take a break from the busy-ness of business to consider what really matters at the time of year that really matters… Then, as the media cycle dies down… back to our Christmas shopping again, right?
Which is more tragic, the tragedy we saw or the tragedy of forgetting it?
OK, Shift Gears…
In Pursuit of Happiness…
At the intersection of all the newer stuff out there every year – the better, sleeker, smaller/larger (depending on the technology) – the “better deals than ever“, and the constant IV-drip of the marketers’ “you, you, you”, lies what used to be the village of “I really ought to get something for me”.
It was founded decades ago when Madison Avenue discovered that adding a few drops of consumer psychology to our water supply could turn grown adults into whiny, tantruming children who lose their minds when they can’t have what they want when they want it. Today, the town has grown up into a bustling city, renamed “Gimme” and you and I all have hearts that speak its native language.We even have a gift or two on our list that we’re buying just for us, right?
Paul makes in interesting point in 1 Corinthians 1, as he points to the identity of his audience:
“[I am writing this letter] to those who have been set aside/dedicated to serving God – holy by calling”
In fact, the letters God inspired Paul to write are all reminders to people who have lost the plot. “You started out on the right foot. You just got so caught up in the walking, you forgot where you were supposed to be headed. You’re so wrapped up in the men around you, you’ve lost touch with the Maker. You were called out to be holy – turn around and stick with first things in light of what’s been done for you!”
See? You just read half of the New Testament.
To Regain the Plot, Consider the Characters
We were created in God’s image, not a carbon copy of God, though. We are the creation, not the creator, and not endowed with the wisdom of all He knows. We lose the plot constantly because we don’t think like God. Yeah, you’ve been reading the Bible for a decade or two. That’s great. Me, too. That just makes me more prone to the sin of pride. God calls out to His people over and over again – “repent” – change your mind, radically and agree with the ways of God.
God isn’t so busy wrapped up with my deadline, your project problems, her sales quota, their ballet, soccer, karate, and gymnastics schedule. He always knows what the plot is… His glory. He’s totally stuck on Himself, but it’s okay. He’s the most important person in His life, and that’s okay. Implication: we’re not. We’re not the reason we’re alive, not the answer, not the point of the story… So, when we get all caught up in “us”, by whatever device, we’ve hijacked the lead role and lost the plot.
The Good News
The Good News, of course, is Jesus. But, the message of the Gospel isn’t. The Message of the Gospel is something far more offensive to our carefully tuned ears: “repent”. That’s great news – there’s a solution to… us. Repent… Turn away from the way that you used to think when you were, as God calls us, dead in your sin. Take off the old self, what’s familiar to you, “The Pursuit of Me and My Stuff”, and put on new thoughts. Renovate your mind.
But, the news Paul writes in 1 Corinthians is not to those who don’t know Christ. These aren’t people who are “dead in their sin”. These are people who’ve received grace by faith, but are being tugged this way and that by “every wind of teaching and the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Eph 4:14). Know anyone like that?
The great news is, at least we know the Main Character and the plot. At least we have a means to regain the plot once we’ve lost it. And, despite the pain we’re feeling over our loss, their loss, any loss, we have gained something by the tragedy – a painful post it note that reminds us there was a plot in the first place. Go ahead, put your kids’ picture or one of the photos of those victims of the shooting on your dash board. But, don’t let it be there in vain – let it be a reminder of who the story is about and who you and I are not.
Pray for comfort for the families who have lost. Pray that God puts a smile on their face through the comfort that can only come from “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles (2 Cor. 1:3-4)”. But, pray also for the salvation of all around them. No sense in showing up to the gates of Hell with a smile on your face… Let’s not gain a smile and lose the plot. Give the gift of the Plot Writer to yourself and others this Christmas.
Jesus is the reason, not just a season.
Grace, peace, and momentum to you today in Christ!
AP
by Aarron Pina | Dec 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
The point of Monday Morning Momentum is to ensure your week maintains the momentum you got from the shot in the arm your pastor gave you yesterday. I try to pass on some brief word that has me jazzed about jumping out of bed and taking a bite of of Monday. This week, I had a few great thoughts to share. But, none of them were as well ironed out as the one that I got in my email from Daniel Diadiggo a few weeks ago.
I’ve posted some of Daniel’s stuff here in the past – Diadiggo is one of those guys who “gets it” when it comes to Jesus, grace, and truth. He also really gets it when it comes to the pattern of this age and the pattern of God (example). On top of that, I find him to be an incredibly insightful and cogent writer, able to articulate complex ideas in a staggeringly simple way.
A few years ago, I witnessed one of his family’s traditions, performed at a local restaurant, called “Christmas Chronicles”. For the next few weeks, as I take some time off from the blog to soak more thoroughly in the word and unclutter some of my own brain at year end, I’ve chosen to unleash his “Christmas Chronicles” for your consumption and cogitation.
I hope as you disciple others it will serve as a helpful framework for sharing important truths about Christmas, Christ, and the God who loves us with a crazy, crazy love. It’s a tradition I’m sure the Pina family will adopt in years to come and I hope it proves to be a unique blessing to you as you and your family gather to celebrate the incarnation of a risen Savior.
Merry Monday Momentum & Merry, Merry Christmas!
—
Foreword: Twenty-two years ago as newlyweds, Kelle and I invited family and friends to our tiny, rented duplex to read the Christmas story. Together, we read Scripture, prayed, and sang hymns. Sprinkled in between were some vignettes I wrote which were spoken by alternating readers. The idea has survived as a family tradition in some form through the years and has become known locally (as in our family room) as “the Christmas Chronicles”. dcd
#1 in the midst of the mundane
Read:
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
Luke 2:1-4
Speak:
Joseph was doing his taxes when Jesus was born. He was rendering to Caesar that which was Caesar’s – he was giving the world it’s due.
What a pain.
Life is a strand of ordinary things, often inconvenient things.
… things we’re supposed to do
… things we have to do.
This was one of these.
Joseph hoisted his very pregnant betrothed onto a donkey and set out for Bethlehem because
… that’s what he was supposed to do.
It was in Bethlehem, in the middle of Joseph’s drudgery
that God punctured time and appeared in flesh.
God does that a lot.
He interrupts our routines…
At the most inconvenient of times
…when we’re bothered by something else
…times when we’re too busy to pay attention
God breaks through
And delivers… LIFE!!
Pray:
Lord, thank you for the mundane – for those burdens You have pressed upon us, for those things that are in the way. Thank You for delivering life into the midst of our mundane!
