God is amazing. Let me tell you why. Before Christmas, money was tight. We were planning on going home for Christmas, and I knew we didn’t have the money to do it. I said ‘God, you gotta do something.’ By the time we came home, we had received over $300 from different family members.
The other day, I was trying to figure out what to talk about for Sunday School. God gave me a theme, and then our pastor confirmed it with both messages on Sunday.
My wife and I have been trying to figure out if we should stay here for a few years, or if we should find a church elsewhere. For a while we prayed and sought God. He answered us both within minutes of each other. We made the decision, and now all the right doors are opening up.

This is part informative, and part rant. Some people no doubt already wonder what sort of Christian I am for titling this entry ‘xmas’. Many people object to this practice, but have no idea where and how it actually originated. I’ll be brief for the sake of those who already know. The letter X is the first letter of the greek word for Christ. It was used frequently among Christians of earlier centuries as an abbreviation: Xians, Xianity, and Xmas. In fact, its use was so common, that it actually occurred in some manuscripts of the New Testament.

Now on to my rant. Christmas music, bah.
I wish people would put some effort into producing it, instead of simply grabbing a microphone, and chanting the same tired out tunes 84,000 times. I love Christmas music, but the problem is that we get stuck in this rut of singing the same songs, all the time, over and over again. Why can’t people write some new songs for us to sing? At the very least, we could come up with some new arrangements. Maybe it’s because we don’t care enough to expend the effort necessary for this endeavor, since it’s only ‘one day out of the year’. What??? Christmas is the day that our savior came to earth. Christmas is the day that God began his long awaited plan of redeeming mankind. It ought to be a day of hope and inspiration so incredible that new lyrics and tunes float out our ears. Well, that’s enough. You get the point. So go buy some original Xmas music, and blast it out for all to hear.

Now, unless I seem entirely humanistic, let me clarify. The above diatribe is for the average american. It is not for the believer, the saint, the one who follows Christ. For us, there is an even higher standard, a greater motivation, a more pressing need. We must use our gifts for Christ. No call could be greater, and yet few of us really make the commitment. It is not our sin that people stare at. It is our lack of commitment to something that should enthrall every fiber of our being. If what we say is true; if the gospel is indeed the salvation for every man, it ought to be worth the commitment, the pain, and the suffering. But what we have shown the world is just the opposite. It is not worth much of anything. It is worth a little portion of our money, a few hours out of a week, and a few moments before each meal. That is all.

Let us not be guilty of this great hypocrisy. Let us show the world that our message is not filthy rags. That our faith is more than dust and ashes. That our faith is alive. And has the power to breathe new life into any man. Every man.

In Sunday School we talked about the passage where Jesus says something to this effect, “Get the plank out of your own eye before you attempt to help your neighbor with the speck in his eye.” The issue of hypocrisy is not new to the church. We have always had hypocrites in the church, and we always will. But God is calling us to get rid of our planks, not so that we can say we are perfect, but so that we can grow and build up others in the body of Christ. He is longing for us to take out our planks, and give them to Him, so that He can use them to build something incredible.