Christmas Traditions

~by Stacy Mattheis~

I love traditions. Maybe it’s my quirky white board loving way but I love knowing that I can count on the same thing happening every Christmas season. We have been refining our family traditions since we got married fourteen years ago, and as we have added children to our family I have sensed even more importance around our traditions. I will admit that fourteen years ago, my traditions had a different "world view" than they do today, but as I have grown closer to the Lord and have experienced His love, grace and mercy, my desire to have our traditions focused on the birth of Jesus has grown. I am often asked what my family and I do as traditions for Christmas, so here is a window into what the Mattheis’ Christmas looks like....

A few years ago we made participating in Advent a priority. A dear friend recommended an Advent series to us called Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide. It was an awesome read for our whole family and we are excited that there are two more books in the series. This year we will read about a boy named Bartholomew in a book called Bartholomew’s Passage. This series was a great tool for understanding Advent as well. Another book we have read is Family Advent by Thomas Nelson Publishers. We would read most days in the evening but Sunday afternoons are a great time to read for us too. There are times we are not able to read every night so we catch up when we can, but we light a candle every Sunday. Remember, I am the wife of a shift worker so our schedules ebb and flow. I have learned to get over that we can’t do everything the way it appears it should be done but I have learned to embrace the schedule we have with its pros and cons.

We make Christmas goodies and gifts for our friends and family. I love finding ways to simplify the holidays and keep my budget intact. Handmade gifts are awesome and usually don’t add to the overabundance we already have. We are challenged to think about who we are giving a gift to and what they would really enjoy. My girls have looked forward to this tradition for the past few years. They love making cookies in a jar, scrapbook covering journals, and making cards. This year we will try our hand at making some cool pieces of jewelry. We also make fudge and other candy goodies as well.

Volunteering is another tradition we are sure to invest some time in every Christmas. In the past, we have sponsored a family through CAWES (Women’s Shelter) or through the church with the Hope Ministry. Sacrificing for others is something we value in our home so we focus on teaching our kids that. Shopping for a family and blessing them anonymously is a great tradition to teach this value. Last year I volunteered with some friends for the Women’s Shelter in the gift wrapping booth at the mall. It was a great time for me to connect with those friends and support a local mission. It was the gift of my time.

I usually read a fiction series over the Christmas season. It’s a time when I am more busy than usual so to give my brain a rest I dig into a good and easy read. Last year I read a Francine Rivers series called Mark of The Lion. Another great series I recently finished is called the Genesis Trilogy by Kacy Barnett-Gramckow.

This year we are starting a new tradition...participating in the Christmas Choir. Even though this is a family event, I am so blessed individually by actively participating in the worship of our King. I know that not every one can join the choir, but I challenge you to discover what it is that you can do together as a family that worships our King.

Finally, on Christmas Eve we celebrate the birth of Christ with a birthday cake. The kids pick out what type of cake we have; two years ago they wanted an ice cream cake. It was pretty cool to head to DQ and order a birthday cake that said....HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS. The employee was ready to write but hesitated then looked up, asking herself if she heard correctly. Tyler smiled and said," Yes that’s right." We gather with family, sing, "Happy Birthday, Jesus" and give our thanks for Him. This small practice that we inherited from an Aunt and Uncle has been very powerful for our family, both immediate and extended.

I shared all of this with you on the understanding that you won’t condemn yourself if you aren’t able to do the traditions my family and I do. I encourage you to pray about what the Lord wants you to focus on during the Christmas season. Spend time with family and friends and if your family isn’t with you anymore, I pray that God will send you special people to fill your days in December so that loneliness isn’t what you experience. May your December days be filled with the Holy Spirit and the anticipation and excitement of the birth of our Saviour.

Feeling Forgiven

~by Roy Mitton~

Tiffany and I have shared our testimony of our life of domestic violence and the great obstacle of forgiving ourselves and Tiffany forgiving me. I saw my sins as too great to be forgiven and the world is unkind to wives who choose to stay.

It was in the basement of the Calgary Women’s shelter where I came out of denial and faced the abuser I was, and the abuse I committed. No good I ever did in the future could make right for the abuse I committed in my past. I carried my guilt from that basement like a heavy yolk on my shoulders into an unforgiving world.

I had always been taught that forgiveness was a feeling. Webster’s dictionary says it’s to "stop feeling angry or resentful towards a person who has done something hurtful or wrong".

It was after we moved to Red Deer, at CrossRoads Church, that I learned of Jesus Christ. I learned that He could forgive me for my sins. The thought of this seemed alien to me. I certainly did not feel forgiven. I felt anger and hate towards myself for what I had done. I believed that forgiving myself was not humanly possible.

Though unwilling for fear of rejection to share the gory details with anyone, alone I became resolved in prayer, and fumbled through the pages of my new Bible to know how it feels to be forgiven by God for my sin. What I learned was that I was looking for the wrong thing all along.

The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek. The Koine Greek word used in the passages our English New Testament translates as "forgive" is aphiēmi (ä-fē’-ā-mē). Aphiēmi is never used for feeling, rather an action, something you do. It means to leave, abandon, or dismiss.

Paul writes in Colossians 2:14 when referring to forgiveness of sins: "having cancelled the written code, with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the crucifix." No hint of feeling is mentioned.

I did not need to feel forgiven, I was forgiven. I just needed to accept that my sin had been pardoned. If I was to be a follower of Christ, I needed to dismiss myself and others from transgressions. Otherwise, I was claiming that our sins were too great to have been cancelled by Christ’s work on the crucifix.

If this world waits for the day that those who need forgiving earn or deserve it, the world waits for a day that will never come. And the consequences for a world blackened by unforgiveness are evident all around us. The cycle of pain and destruction brought forth from an unforgiving heart is all too common. As men, we are called by God to be the earthly representation of Christ in our marriages, in our families, and in our communities. How do we do at modeling this biblical sense of forgiveness? How about you? Are you holding back on truly abandoning a hurt that was done to you or someone you love? Or perhaps like me, is there something you are refusing to forgive yourself for because you know you don’t deserve it? Are you waiting for a feeling that hasn’t come?

I want to encourage you, as Christian men, to be willing to get real with yourself and others, to show that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and you’re no exception. Do all in your power to show believers and non-believers alike your vulnerability and that they can be vulnerable too without any judgement on your part.

I have always found it fruitless to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others if I am unwilling to show where I been forgiven. That is the real power of the Gospel in my life! For me, nothing stands as a testament to a living Saviour, Lord and God than to see another humbly forgive others without ever taking into account whether they deserve it or not.

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins. (Mark 11:25)

I Can’t Believe What I’m Seeing! ~ A Lesson From Habakkuk

~by Pastor Rob Tannahill~

Perspective. It was a perspective change that allowed Satan to deceive Adam and Eve. It was a perspective issue that allowed Noah to build an ark. Perspective led Abraham to a new life and perspective allowed him to lay his son on an altar. It was a perspective issue that caused the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt and it was a perspective change that brought them out again. Perspective changes initiated the ebb and flow of the Israelite sin and redemption cycles. The teachings of Christ were about perspective: think of the Kingdom of God like it’s a mustard seed.

There’s a prophet in the Old Testament with an unfortunate name. It’s like the doctor asked his dad what he should be named and his dad sneezed: HABAKKUK! Habakkuk wrote a book in the bible that is a source of comfort for me. It is a perspective-fixing book that I often go to for hope. Habakkuk is the only prophet who doesn’t speak for God to the people but instead he speaks for the people to God and the questions he asks are the same questions that burden my heart.

This book was written during a period when Judah enjoyed its last bit of prosperity under King Josiah. The economic conditions during Habakkuk’s life would have been excellent and King Josiah was a good guy who was trying to lead his people into spiritual revival. But history has taught us spiritual revival is hard to cultivate in the soil of wealth and prosperity.

The book begins with Habakkuk yelling at God.

Chapter 1

v2 "How long, O LORD must I call for help? But you do not listen!"

v3 "I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight."

v4 "The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted."

Habakkuk’s perspective is a righteous one, however, his heart is in the wrong place. He knows God doesn’t like sin and he knows God has the power to do anything He wants. So when he sees sin and evil at work all around him without God intervening, Habakkuk has to ask God, "Why aren’t you doing something about this?" The underlying thought is that God doesn’t care and that He can’t be bothered to get involved.

I know I’m not supposed to say this; I know I’m not even supposed to think this, but sometimes in my life I’ve been right where Habakkuk is in chapter 1. Stuff has hit the fan and everything stinks. Of course, if God is who He says He is then He totally could have stopped the stuff from hitting the fan ... but He didn’t. Now we’re left to ask the question, "Why?" But here’s the thing about God. God doesn’t like the question, "Why?" In fact, God has never answered any question of mine that began with the word "Why". Any time I’ve asked God, "Why?" He has always responded with another question which is a very difficult discussion to be in when all you want is answers.

When Job asked God, "Why?" God responded "Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them." (Job 38:2,3) Scary stuff, eh?

When Habakkuk asks God, "Why?" God responds:

Chapter 1

v5 "Look around and be amazed! I am doing something you wouldn’t believe."

v6 "I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people."

v7 "They are notorious for their cruelty and do whatever they like."

Basically Habakkuk has complained to God about the lack of righteousness in God’s people. And God’s response is, "If you think I’ve been letting bad stuff happen before, just wait ‘til you see what I’m about to allow next!"

Habakkuk’s mind is messed up. His world is not right. This doesn’t make any sense. God doesn’t make sense. God isn’t who Habakkuk thought he was. His response to God is summed up:

Chapter 1

v12 "Surely you don’t plan to wipe us out?"

v13 "But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery?"

v17 "Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?"

Then comes the verse for which Habakkuk is most famous: 2:1. "I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint."

With this one statement, Habakkuk reveals the pride in his own heart. The motive and attitude revealed in this statement are that Habakkuk thinks God isn’t doing his job and that God needs to be held accountable. Which in essence is the same motive in my heart every time I ask God, "Why?"

Habakkuk has complained about the arrogance of his countrymen and the arrogance of the Babylonians but he has neglected the arrogance in himself until God’s response cuts Habakkuk to the core of his issue.

God compares the proud to the righteous,

Chapter 2

v4 "Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God."

v5 "Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They open their mouths as wide as the grave, and like death they are never satisfied."

v16 "Drink from the cup of the LORD’s judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame."

It was a personal issue for Habakkuk that unrighteous people were winning and that just wasn’t fair. God could prove himself and smite someone. That would get people’s attention and then they would start listening to me ... I mean then they would listen to what God has to say ... through me.

C.J. Mahaney explains that God’s response is an even greater expression of mercy toward Habakkuk and toward each of us. It’s an answer that will transform Habakkuk and one that ought to transform all of us who have turned from our sin and trust in Jesus. Faith is the key to gaining a divine perspective of perplexing and troubling circumstances. The bottom line as Habakkuk learns is that the proud ultimately will not prosper and that God’s purposes will prevail.

Chapter 2

v14 "For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD."

V20 "But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him."

This encounter transforms Habakkuk’s heart. The prophet we now see bears no resemblance to the man we saw in chapters 1 and 2. He has been transformed from questioning to praying, from confusion to certainty, from being perplexed to fully trusting God. A cataclysmic change has occurred in the disposition of Habakkuk’s heart, and yet there has been absolutely no improvement in his circumstances. Nothing has changed and yet for Habakkuk’s heart, everything has changed. He’s no longer proud; his soul is no longer puffed up. Instead he’s humbly trusting God.

Chapter 3

v2 "I have heard all about you, LORD. I am filled with awe by your amazing works."

v8 "Was it in anger, LORD, that you struck the rivers and parted the sea? Were you displeased with them? No, you were sending your chariots of salvation!"

Perspective changes are never easy to come by. When things aren’t happening the way they’re supposed to - the way we think they should - it is easy to become alarmed and defensive. "I don’t deserve this! What did I do? Why is this happening to me? God, don’t you care about this?"

Instead we should be asking questions like, "God, what is your will in this situation? How can I participate with you in this? How can I use this circumstance to become more Godly?" The reality, despite our perspective, is that God’s judgement often comes for the sake of not only our salvation but also for the people around us and in our lives. It is when things are most dangerous that we most need to be rescued. It is when circumstances are most difficult that our faith becomes most necessary and most alive.

Habakkuk was looking at the most bleak circumstances of his life. Loss of security, economy, food and shelter. But at the end of it all, his perspective and his faith grew into something profound and he was able to say...

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!"

(Habakkuk 3:17-18)