by Pastor James Bell

I thought I saw him in there somewhere.

Of course, that was before I became so intentional about our small group being more purpose-driven. I had sold all of my old God Chaser memorabilia at the YWAM garage sale we were sponsoring. I was sipping my fair trade coffee in my new WWWD (what would Willow do?) cup at an Alpha group we established to create a greater sense of community in our lives.

I was sure I heard someone mention his name. It could have been the Spanish pronunciation, as we were being culturally inclusive and several Spanish speaking people were there. Or it could have been someone saying “Hey, Suz!” to my wife as she opened some San Pellegrino for the advanced Alpha group members.

There was this kind of “old school” guy sitting by himself in the overstuffed chair on the other side of the room. I felt like he was looking at me, but he averted his gaze every time I looked his way. He was clean enough, but he definitely shopped at Ross or  Walmart for that casual combination he was wearing. The sandals didn’t help, and why don’t guys take the time to trim their beards? Makes you wonder why more Christians don’t get it about showing the world that we are truly blessed. Sneaking another look at him I thought, “Best life now? Not.”

The conversation turned to the role of Christians in supporting Israel. One of our guests was sharing with us about a new outreach called “From Turbans to Turbo-Charged”, a non-biased method of reaching Islamists with the bait of materialism before presenting the gospel. Brilliant stuff. But I felt I needed to demonstrate my vulnerability and transparency to the obviously out-of-it guy in the corner.

Then it hit me. What if he’s gay? We are so quick to judge people who are not like us. Am I the only one who sees this poor, desperate soul sitting alone over there? Regardless of his sexual orientation, this is just one more example of what is wrong with the church today. I never saw that movie, Saddle Back Mountain, but I am open for business when it comes to sharing my faith with anyone, anytime, anywhere. That’s just who I am, Man.

Bouncing up from my chair, I started navigating my course across the crowded room. I got pulled aside momentarily by a lady so full of zeal for the Lord that I couldn’t stop her passionate plea. “Why can’t this group, this very group, be our church? We don’t need a church building. Jesus didn’t need buildings. The sea and the Galilean sky were his building!”  I responded that she had a great point there, and zipped right over to my new community outreach objective. After all, shouldn’t the lost be our  priority?

Shockeroo. He was gone. Just like that, he must have decided to exit the premises. So, where was I? Oh yeah, I thought I heard the name, Jesus, just before all this happened. Must have been something in my mind and heart God was trying to impress on me. Gotta spend more time in meditation and reflection.

Note: This is fiction. It never happened. Or did it?

by Pastor James Bell

The whole idea of dads, moms and kids started when God designed the human body to reproduce itself by two becoming one and that union resulting in a third little human arriving on the scene. While some may disagree on whether or not it takes a whole village to raise a child, the necessity of a male/female relationship to produce babies is a slam dunk. There has to be a contribution from each. This might be the only thing left that social conservatives and progressive activists agree on. Facts are stubborn things.

We didn’t choose our mothers. In most cases, they didn’t choose us either. Parents who adopt make a choice, but for most people the introduction to childhood did not include any multiple choice questions. Mothers emerge out of the fog of our earliest memories. It was their face, their touch and their voice that introduced us to the planet.

Moms ensure their baby’s survival, calm their infant’s fears, confront their toddler’s rebellion, focus their pre-schooler’s energy, influence their grade-schooler’s curiosity, freak out at their pre-teen’s transformation, manage (yeah, right mom!) their teen’s activities, and then release them, reluctantly and prayerfully, as young adults. That’s the job, folks. That’s what mothers do.

God has provided props to help mothers do this all-important job. Here is a partial list of “things” moms really need to get the job done well:

• Pull up disposable diapers. Millions of them.
• Juice boxes with straws attached.
• A kitchen table / pulpit.
• Dad (a good one is priceless).
• A locked bathroom door.
• GPS (Oh yes, they do!)
• MDO. What does that mean? Sanity!
• Thick skin and a tender heart (think “teenagers”)
• Discernment.
• A good (read nurturing) church.
• A personal relationship with Jesus.

by Pastor James Bell

“If all were a single member, where would the body be?”  – The Apostle Paul

In Chapter 12 of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul asked that question. His point? Just like the human body is made of many parts, so is the local church. Super Pastors, like super heroes, are the stuff of myths and wishful thinking. Even the most gifted, high-profile pastors would tell you that underneath that well-polished spiritual armor there beats the heart of a man. Men (and women) who lead congregations get weary at times.

One way or another, that Superman cape has to come off. A team of equipped members can reach more people, more effectively, than any one leader. On the other hand, those teams will be effective only to the extent that they have strong leadership.

For many people there is this unwritten spiritual law that pastors do the work of ministry and members evaluate how well they do it. How sad that we stumble over the Bible’s explanation of church leadership, which defines job one for leaders as “equipping believers for ministry”. In fact, some pastors have felt that they carried the spiritual needs of the church, and to some extent the community, on their shoulders. This responsibility was hard to sustain, and many of them walked away from the call of God on their lives, carrying with them broken spirits and crushed dreams.

This top-heavy view of ministry leaves in it’s wake flawed thinking which will eventually create spiritual deterioration. For example, a couple of flawed thoughts:

The highest level of ministry emanates from the staff of a church. Volunteer ministry is appreciated, but is actually more supportive, less significant, ministry.

Responses to our performance become our spiritual thermometers. They give us a sense that we are fulfilling our mission even if, from the perspective of Christ, we aren’t.

Note: It is disturbing to realize that spiritual leaders can feel this way even if they are completely out of sync with the actual purpose and plan of God. Leaders can easily misread the affirmation of the congregation as the approval of God. Only in the loneliness of time spent separated unto God can the difference be clearly seen.

As more and more churches grew numerically in the latter half of the 1900′s, it became obvious that multiplicity of ministry must happen to sustain growth. Staffs increased dramatically. Ministry titles that we had never heard of emerged as churches expanded their capacity to reach and serve more people.

By the turn of the century a great number of churches had begun to see the importance of the church staff being “equippers” of their members so their church’s ministry could be more effective, far-reaching and multi-faceted. This was not a new idea, but it was a truth that had been largely overlooked. Staffs became leaner and more intentional. The need to activate the body of Christ began to permeate the thinking of insightful leaders.

Two years ago I had major surgery. For a period of six months to a year, I slowly but surely recovered my strength and God-given exuberance for leading Hosanna. We immediately weathered some storms and sailed through some troubled seas, but, as usual, God showed up big in our midst.

As the waters calm and the sun peeks through the scattering clouds, I see the  dawning of a bright new day for this church! Our resources are very capable of overcoming our challenges. Consider with me:

Our Challenges

– Loving and nurturing our congregation as never before.
– Responding to the growing needs of people in our community.
– Activating anointed ministry by equipped members of our church.
– Physically building what we need to more effectively reach people.

Our Resources

– The power of God’s love exploding in our lives by the Holy Spirit.
– The strength of vision, as our members begin to see what God is up to at Hosanna.
– The dynamic force of unity, when we become one in purpose.
– The generous spirit of giving, as we understand and accept the blessed life God wants us to experience.

The fingerprints of my Heavenly Father are on that ridiculous Superman’s cape crumpled up in the corner of my life. I am ready to embrace your potential, pour into your life, and walk hand in hand with all of you into the future of our church, our ministries, our lives…

Ya’ll coming?

by Pastor James Bell

If we were choosing up sides, I don’t think I would want either on my team. But there is a difference. Acceptance is closely related to truth, and resignation doesn’t give a hoot about truth. I also think resignation seems older than acceptance. In fact, it reeks of oldness.

I accept the fact that my human nature is out of sync with my spiritual calling. I am not, however, resigned to it. I will fight that human nature to the death and passionately pursue the spiritual life God has placed in me. In other words, I accept the fallen nature of man as being factual, but I am not resigned to it.

Knowing the difference between acceptance and resignation can work to our advantage. For example, we believe God speaks today, but we know our spiritual enemy also has a voice.

The enemy says to us, “You are a failure and a hypocrite. You messed up really badly this week. How can you call yourself a Christian?”

“You’re right, I’m a pretty messed up person. Really botched up that thing you’re reminding me of. But I can do all things through Christ. I’ll take the humble road, apologize and then move on, giving God the glory for the changes he is making in me.”

Acceptance received truth and dealt with it. It didn’t become defensive or defeated. It acted on truth. Resignation just wilts when presented with the evidence of failure. Let’s try this same scenario on resignation:

The enemy says to us, “You are a failure and a hypocrite. You messed up really badly this week. How can you call yourself a Christian?”

“I know. I am so defeated. What’s wrong with me? It must be someone else’s fault, probably my parents. Or maybe it’s that I just am not getting enough from my church. I can’t go on like this so I’ll just quit. I’ll give up and maybe see if anyone really cares.” Not much truth happening here.

Accepting truth is not a lack of faith. It is the beginning of faith. Blind refusal of truth leads to a mythical, tenuous, sometimes mystic religious experience. Acceptance of truth with applied faith is the seedbed for miracles.

Resignation gives up. Acceptance opens the door for intercession. We accept that bad things sometimes happen to good people, but through faith we see the Lord helping and delivering those good folks, too. Some of us have been in the fiery furnace and we found out that it didn’t burn us and we didn’t even smell like smoke! PTL! But we were in it. We accept that. We just refused to be resigned to it.

There have been some who thought acceptance was the antithesis of faith. They mistook acceptance for tolerance. We DON’T tolerate! Rather, we say, “Okay, Lord. Where are you in this thing?” Acceptance leads to faith. Faith unlocks the power of God we need to be victorious.

Resignation? It’s a faith-killer and a church-chiller. Don’t want that word around me. On the other hand, the lack of fear stimulates acceptance, because we know a God who deals with truth, with facts. We also know He intervenes, not being intimidated by any situation.

I have some emotional scars (and a few physical ones) as evidence that we don’t live in a perfect world. I’m sure you do, too. If we choose to follow Jesus there will be some conflict in our lives because we are marching to the beat of a different drummer. We are daring to be different in a sin-loving world and that brings conflict. We are not in heaven, we are in Texas! Stuff happens.

I accept that. And, along with you, I begin to swing the door of faith open, anticipating miracles all along our journey. All in all, it’s the best life, the only life, for believers. Acceptance, faith, but no resignation.

You comin’?

by Pastor James Bell

From birth to death is, for any of us, a relatively brief period of time. This is especially true if you are the creator of all things and view life from an eternal perspective. God sees one generation after another enter and exit the arena we call life, most of them feeling that their time is the most significant time in which to live.

Generations evolve and devolve. We pass along better technology and greater knowledge from one generation to the next, making life better and the planet seem smaller. We also pass along moral ambivalence and self-sufficiency, relying more and more on our new (new in each generation) and amazing knowledge of the world in which we live. With each successive generation humans get better (evolving) and also become worse (devolving).

Consider where we are on the timeline of human existence. We have developed alternatives to being physically challenged to provide for ourselves. Instead of being hunters and gatherers, or farmers who till the soil and raise the livestock, most of us enjoy limited physical exertion to make a living. So we replace muscles with fat or hit the gym to simulate what the hunters, gatherers and farmers did. We struggle with diseases brought on by lack of exercise and fast food, yet we know more about exercise and food than ever before. We are stressed out, over medicated, and under exercised. For the most part, we continue this alternative as we wait for something better to come along, sometimes relying solely on that one complicated muscle between our ears.

But we know so much more than those muscular, hard working men and industrious, demure ladies who inhabited this planet during the Renaissance. Or the Native Americans who once roamed the Texas plains. Or even the explorers who mapped the New World. The great thinkers of the ages painstakingly spent themselves writing blueprints for intellectual change. Now college kids can carry around a great writer’s entire works in their pockets on smart phones. What does that mean? That we are much more advanced, but not necessarily smarter, than those who preceded us? For example, if you needed to, could you re-invent an air conditioner or a microwave oven?

In each period of time there were those individuals who pushed the envelope, who struggled for change, who passionately pursued truth. There were many, many more folks, however, who simply existed as best they could, getting married, having children and facing the challenges of life without much contemplation of the past or the future. While world-changers passed the baton of progress to their successors, the status quo passed along not much more than an eagerness to fill in the new frontiers provided by those who were making a difference.

We didn’t accidentally become drivers of cars instead of riders of horses. We didn’t discover electricity, airplanes or micro chips in a cave somewhere. Likewise, the gospel didn’t accidentally survive tumultuous storms of heresy, atheism and false religions that swept the planet in the past 2,000 years. Three truths about our world are continuously evident in accurate, unedited history:

• Relentless pursuit of truth continues by people who are not afraid of change. Truth becomes a snare for evil plotters and enlightenment for unselfish contributors to causes that are righteous.

• Passionate searching for spiritual answers to the human condition battles and overcomes secular humanism over and over, against all odds.

• God watches and listens, not limited by time or space, and bestows upon successive generations glimpses of his divine and ultimate authority over all things.

Each new chapter in the book of life on Planet Earth begins with new advantages that those before that particular time did not have. The “necessities” of our grandparents have become obsolete in our world and we stumble across them in antique shops. There are so many stories of great discoveries that were built from the wreckage of failures in a pervious era that was not blessed with all the pieces to the puzzle. Far-sighted thinkers often died believing they had failed, but others used their unsuccessful attempts to catapult ideas and products to the top of a new culture’s “needs list”.

Presiding over all of this is a benevolent Creator of the universe. He must smile as huge discoveries are made by brilliant minds across the centuries of time, because He knows all human discovery only scratches the surface of the depth of God’s wisdom and universal order. And at the end of every life there is God.

Standing before God is the ultimate experience for every human being. The meaning of life begins to rain down upon each living soul, providing them with complete knowledge and understanding about themselves and the life they lived during their time on this earth. Every question will be answered with the brilliance of divine truth burning away every human justification of unrighteousness. We stand, as it were, naked before God, just as we came into this world.

Every glimpse into the meaning of life leaves us either frustrated and falling deeper into the collective pool of rejection and misunderstanding of God or enlightened by the brightness of truth and more passionate about being a difference maker, a world changer, an instrument of peace.

The meaning of life is to know God, understand his purpose and plan, and become his instrument of change in a darkened, misunderstanding world. His cause extends beyond all of our personal goals and desires. The blessing of adventuring with him during our brief stay on the planet exceeds all other rewards for achievement.

Understanding the meaning of life is impossible without knowing God. Seeking God and his plan above all else is a no-brainer. That makes it nice for guys like me.

Pastor James

by Pastor James Bell

Sometimes we refer to it as baggage, but it’s probably more accurate to call it trash. It’s the stuff you don’t want to think about or talk about. It’s that bad, yucky, embarrassing stuff that you carry with you on your journey through life.

One of the bizarre similarities between Gehenna, a smoky, smelly place which became a symbol of hell, and Golgotha, the hill upon which Jesus was crucified, was that they both became trash dumps. Gehenna was often referred to as the place where “the fire is not quenched”. It was filled with burning, rotting, useless debris. It came to represent the darkness and repulsion of sins not dealt with.

The cross provides a distinctly different kind of trash heap. Unlike Gehenna, Golgotha is where life experiences are dumped. This is where we cast all our care upon the Lord. We leave our burdens, our baggage, our trash at the foot of the cross. The biggest difference in Golgotha’s trash is that it gets recycled. After we lay it down and walk away free, God actually uses this trash for His higher purposes.

The very thought of this is at first reprehensible. Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil, not re-use it. But when you consider just what you left at the cross, you become cognizant of a higher purpose that God has in mind. The trash consists of our hurts, our wounds, even our trauma about the effects of sin (ours and the sins of others against us) upon our hearts and minds. The redemptive grace of God allows us to leave it all there and walk away free.

But then Jesus starts sifting through the trash. What was unredeemed gets redeemed. Jesus takes the hurt, the bitterness, the disappointment, even the fear that we laid at his feet and redeems it by his blood. He doesn’t redeem the sin, but it’s effect upon you. He redeems the process that led to the death of self and the birth of the new you. You are suddenly empowered with new strength as the word of your testimony causes you to overcome in every area of your life, as well as providing power for your outreach into others lives.

A type of this is found in the Old Testament when the recipe was given for the incense used on the golden altar inside the Holy Place. The fragrant offering of this incense enabled the priest to enter the Holy of Holies with the approval of the Most High. One of the ingredients was taken directly from the brazen altar where sacrifices for sin were made. God took some of the remains of the sacrificial sin offering and used them as a part of the transforming incense that proceeded ultimate intimacy between man and God.

Is that Jesus sifting through the trash of past crises in your life? I hope so! Will he use the redeemed “trash” from your past to launch new ministry into your current lifestyle? Yes! Then you will begin to understand something amazing: God doesn’t waste anything. He redeems everything. If you feel that you’ve wasted some of your life, make sure you leave it in the trash pile at the foot of the cross.

It might become the core of a brand new ministry God will birth in you!

by Pastor James Bell

Proverbs says they are faithful (the wounds, not necessarily the friends). That means there is a caring purpose in the wounds of a friend. Friends don’t hide truth, they share it. Their friendship grows as truth shapes and develops them.

If you are like most of us, you have both assumed friends and trusted friends. The difference in assumption and trust defines, sometimes sadly, the quality of a friendship. For example, there are friends about whom we assume good things. We feel a certain level of confidence in these friends. We assume they like us and have our backs. We assume whatever we hope for but don’t have reason to actually know. The somewhat crude dissection of that word, assume, is to some people enlightening. It doesn’t,  however, prevent us from the sadness of the realization that we assumed incorrectly that someone was more of a friend than they actually were. But the bitter taste of false assumption does help us to grow a little bit emotionally and spiritually. We might end up blindsided and disappointed, but we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and move on down the road. Lesson learned.

But when a friendship is based on trust, things happen differently. There is the unique and enjoyable privilege of being oneself, faults and all, without fear of being judged or misunderstood. Acceptance is based on our mutual knowledge of our core values and our struggle to let God mold us into something better as we grow. A trusted friend appreciates your struggle as much as the benchmarks that indicate the progress you have made. Freedom of expression in an atmosphere of acceptance is the hallmark of friendships based on trust instead of assumption. Through the years, I have learned to greatly value those friendships.

Unfortunately, when we love and trust, we risk the loss of the very relationship we value. A broken trust is much more devastating than a false assumption. You don’t kick yourself for assuming; you focus on trying to survive the tidal wave of hurt. Initial disbelief is followed by a sucker punch of lethal, joy-killing truth about what happened or what was said. For the first few minutes you feel like you want to die, but instead you just throw up. Your trust is screaming in your mind that this cannot be true. Days pass with a kind of emotional numbness. After a time, the open wound becomes a tender sore spot, then it becomes a scar. It doesn’t hurt like it did, but the memory of what happened stays with you. Sentences and phrases keep repeating in your thoughts, neatly categorized and tucked away in the complicated filing system of the mind.

To feel the stabbing pain in the small of your back, and then pull out a knife with the fingerprints of a trusted friend is not the same as the wounds Proverbs describes. These wounds are not for growth, insight, and course correction. They can destroy your capacity to love and trust others. They cause fear of intimacy and cynicism about all things relational. They stifle the child in your spirit. They steal your joy. You have to make yourself go on.

If you are reading this and you can relate to some or all of the feelings on this page, I want you to know something. I have been there, my friend. Unexpectedly, I have often met Jesus in these dark places and have experienced his love in a deeper way than at any other time in my life. In these deep valleys of hurt he rushes to us, with a hard embrace and a strong word of encouragement. And he leads us out again, into the light.

Yesterday I lost a trusted friend. Today I will allow Jesus to treat these wounds. Tomorrow I will love people, even trust people, knowing that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I also realize, through tears of understanding, that he will stick close, just as close, to the friend I lost.

Your wounded heart will heal. In fact, grace heals us and heals through us. Often at the same time.

Pastor James

by Pastor James Bell

It was 5:30, way too early in the morning for me to come strolling into our living room. Suz, an early riser, asked me what I was doing up at this time, and the dogs on her lap twisted their heads as they seemed to question why I had invaded their daily quiet time.

I told my wife and dogs that I was up because I was mad. Mad at the devil. I had encountered his schemes all week long, losing sleep and being distracted from things that were more important than his nonsense. I wondered out loud why we pastors never mention some things that most of us know all too well. We think it’s not becoming for someone in our position to speak up about it. We think it’s not spiritual to mention it. But it eats on us, tearing us apart from the inside out.

I decided to tell you about it. It’s all about the strategies of the spiritual enemy we face, and how often we are set up for embarrassment, criticism and even failure. It is about the feeling that we are dealing with a no-win situation, and therefore we must internalize things that should be on the prayerful lips of our intercessors. Most of all, it is about a basic situation that will happen over and over in vibrant, growing congregations and in the hearts of well-intentioned, hard-working pastors until the wheels start coming off of everything and nobody really knows why. I am going to tell you why.

Three entities, when they are in sync, can destroy even the strongest church unless they are identified and stopped. Those three entities consist of two flawed personality types and one devil. Now, this destructive combination is not Satan’s only weapon against the church, but I am convinced it is by far the most often used in his arsenal.

First, it is the devil, the father of lies. Then it is a flawed personality trait in people I have dubbed “bomb-throwers”. Thirdly, it is milder, even pseudo-spiritual, version of the same flaw in folks we’ll call “poop-stirrers”. The devil plants the idea, the bomb-thrower chooses to almost innocently drop a false statement or half truth about a sensitive subject, and the poop-stirrers keep the comment alive by passing it along, often with some disclaimer about not being sure that it’s right and certainly not to, shall we say, keep the poop stirred. But by passing it along, they do precisely that very thing.

Satan chooses an event. It can be almost any event involving change. He then plants seeds of untruth or half-truths in the hearts of potential bomb-throwers who might be concerned, disappointed or fearful of the changes. All they have to do is find the right opportunity to speak those twisted comments. Note that the motivation is (1) selfish pride in one’s opinion and (2) a desire to thwart the change that is happening.

Example Scenario – Singles out for a meal after church. One of the guys wants to impress some of the ladies at the table. He says that he recently hung out with someone who had left with his family to attend another church. The guy told him the real reason he left. Didn’t like some changes the pastor was making (interestingly enough, the very changes this guy, or someone close to him, doesn’t like).

Okay, time out for facts. The alleged conversation with the person who left never happened. The guys did hang out, but didn’t discuss anything about the changes. In fact, the person leaving didn’t know about the changes and had left the right way, with the pastor’s understanding and support. The bomb-thrower “created” this comment to be interesting and appear knowledgeable to his peers. After that meal, he thought, nothing more would happen. But now the poop-stirrers see an opportunity to enliven next week’s conversations with their friends.

Other scenarios follow. A situation happened in a small group (that didn’t actually happen that way at all), the pastor preached a sermon aimed at one person in the congregation he disagreed with (not effective, I know better than to try that), the pastor’s wife (or his friend, or an elder) has a hidden agenda, and on and on we go. Bombers bomb with suspicions and twisted statements. Poop-stirrers keep the stuff moving. Pastors hear about it with disbelief and shock, thinking these were their friends and the ones they have given their lives for. Satan lifts a toast. People say to rise above it. I don’t sleep.

It’s almost impossible to restore truth when church members are, often unknowingly, spreading lies. See, even now that word seems a little strong to you when talking about Christians. But the number one sin among Christians, far more common (and damnable) than other sins, is lying. If a pastor confronts this activity, he will be accused of being judgmental, defensive or argumentative. Even poop-stirrers will step back in horror that their pastor would not just rise above the fray and stay positive.

The battle, over something which (and this is so important for you to realize) never, ever, actually happened in the first place, now spreads to a conflict between the defensive pastor and the frantically backpedaling bomb-thrower. The poop-stirrers deny any involvement and begin to act like victims, even at times leaving the church.Visitors and new members think the whole thing is childish and immature, and begin to question the pastor’s leadership and maturity. Meanwhile, demons dance in the darkness and Satan gloats over his victory against that local church, chipping away at the higher purposes of the kingdom of God.

The bottom line unless we act is this:

• A pastor will feel that confronting the wrong will cause the conflict to spread.
• Bomb-throwers will toss more bombs to cover their, often unintentional, damaging remarks.
• Poop-stirrers will stir, self-righteously stating that these are not necessarily their opinions.
• Congregants will be confused by the division among believers.
• Satan, bomb-throwers and poop-stirrers never even make it into the conversation, as the Evil One scans the church’s agenda for the next opportunity to attack.

How do we stop this cycle? Here are some suggestions:

• Bomb-throwers, quit tossing those bombs. We need you.  Talk to us, work with us.
• Poop-stirrers, just quit stirring. Help us communicate the good news!
• Pastor, pastor people better than they’ve ever been pastored!
• Leaders, lead on!

Then, let all of us humbly serve the interests of others, as Jesus teaches us to do. Dialogue, listen, get involved. When we walk in unity, following Jesus, all hell trembles. This is not my church or your church, or even our church. It’s His.

This is going to be a year of breakthroughs and victories on several levels. God is whispering to us of exciting things He has in store. Even if you have been affected by these situations, don’t ever feel like you have to walk away. Every pastor knows these experiences well. They happen everywhere unless confronted. Resolve these things right here and our bonds of love will grow even stronger.

Pastor James

by Pastor James Bell

A little girl said it well. Riding home from the crowded mall, sharing the backseat with her revved up siblings, she pressed her nose against the cold, foggy window. She saw the brightly lit plywood manger scene in someone’s front yard. Over the noisy voices of her excited brothers and her frantic, tired mom, she blurted out, “Merry Christmas, Jesus!”

Did Jesus have a Merry Christmas? His best friend John said it simply, “He came to his own and his own people didn’t receive him.” That rejection ultimately led to the cross, but it started in Bethlehem. Those people didn’t even know he was born, let alone who he was. Jesus’ birthday was the stuff of shepherd’s chatter and angelic myths. In fact, it wasn’t until the Magi showed up almost two years later that people started getting a clue.

By the time Jesus was thirty-three, it was pretty obvious that he was not going to have a mega-church in Jerusalem. He did draw some big crowds, and he could have pulled it off by cutting some corners here and there and not always being so bluntly truthful. But on the other hand, after being God and creating the world, the promise of a really large congregation was not enough to cause him to swerve from his prophetic destiny.

Here’s the tough part: He expected no less of his disciples. Jesus valued truth as essential for spiritual freedom. He saw success in terms that were more qualitative than quantitative. Would some of today’s leaders accuse him of negativism if he said to their constituents, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Larry King and Piers Morgan would question his exclusivity. Diane Sawyer might try to coax him into a more acceptable position on social issues. Millions would just switch back to ESPN or Dancing With The Stars. Funny that most people on Earth have never really cared about the things that are so riveting to the inhabitants of both heaven and hell. Not yet.

But this truth remains through the years: Jesus’ birth is made sacred by the life it produced. Every time you remember the manger, whenever you follow your faith to the cross,  and as often as you truly worship the Son of God, something happens that will someday shake the world!

These days, along with many other pastors I’m sure, I receive as many heartbreaking stories as Christmas cards. I see, up close and personal, crumbling values, deteriorating relationships and broken hearts. Then I hear the voices of many high-profile Christian leaders giving slick, motivational messages rooted more in pop psychology than the Bible. I feel backed against the wall, seeing Satan’s perverted grin as he communicates in myriad ways a message that says, “If you don’t play along with us, we will paint you as an insensitive, judgmental, grace-bashing, relic of the religious past.”

But spiritual leaders who are spiritual leaders hold to biblical values, presenting love, grace, surrender, service and fulfillment as the Christian way.  Smiling imposters offer grace, grace, grace and more grace as an alternative and tell people to choose their own way. Tragically, it seems to be working pretty well for them, at least on this side of eternity. But anyone with even a little bit of spiritual sensitivity has to ask, “What is the birth of Christ without the cross? What is the message of hope without the empty tomb? What is Christmas without a Savior?”

So I find myself joining that little girl, with my face pressed against the window. In the mix of devotion and dysfunction, friendly faces and frustrating disappointment, the smiles of children and the fears of old men, amidst the carols and chaos….I still believe. With my nose against the glass, I see the hope that lies in a manger. I say with a choked up voice and tears of realization, “Merry Christmas, Jesus!”

by Pastor James Bell

What you do when things don’t work out reflects your true character.

It’s when you look around for your support group and there is nothing but crickets serenading the darkness. It might be when you yell, “Charge!” and your closest allies retreat. It could be when you seek the solace of a friend and find an empty heart and a blank expression. Sometimes it’s sharing about how God gave you the design for this plan and then, along with everyone else, you watch the wheels come off. What you do next reveals the substance of what God has built within you.

Regardless of how failure hits you, be it a right cross to the jaw or a sucker punch to the solar plexus, it will challenge you like nothing else. Like most all of us, failure wants acceptance. Will you at last accept all those things you feared you were, but hoped you were not? Can’t you just grovel in the bittersweet comfort of self-pity for awhile? Don’t you seriously feel a little bit like shaking your fist heavenward and saying something profound like, “Thanks a lot, God!”

Since this isn’t the first time you’ve faced failure’s challenge, you know those options don’t work for you anymore. Here is what you do instead:

• Ask God to search your heart for anything wrong or inappropriate in your actions.

• Forgive those who contributed to your failure by their own actions.

• Take some time to just sit at Jesus’ feet and listen.

• Do something nice for someone you don’t like…….yourself!
Note: I recommend a chair massage at the mall, a Godiva chocolate bar, or a large Dr. Pepper,     depending on your budget for “something nice”.

• Start over. Get up and pursue your destiny as never before!

Failure is never a reason to quit. Failure is a crucial part of your education. Failure teaches you to know yourself better, to understand what makes friendship authentic, to value integrity and character. In many ways, failure can propel you toward success.

Balance and objectivity are the keys to making failure work for you. Avoid defensiveness and reject condemnation. Right there, in between those two destructive emotions, there are some great truths waiting to be revealed to you about yourself. Then you’ll better understand the spiritual giftedness God is providing to enable you to achieve what he has called you to do.

Through the years, my enthusiasm for relationships and teamwork has often caused me to lead with my chin and end up on my backside. My heart has become a mosaic of broken pieces put back together by the gentle hand of a loving God. Every true shepherd knows brokenness. Every victorious warrior is no stranger to despair. Failure will challenge you, but you will win.

It’s your destiny.

Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   – Philippians 3:13-14