About me

I was born and raised in Northern (Superior) Wisconsin about 80 miles from the Canadian border; and, yes it gets very cold there! At the young age of 32 I began to feel called into ministry. One night at a church dinner, my wife Judy and I sat at a table next to our district superintendent. In the course of our conversation, he said that he had a small church that needed someone to supply the pulpit until he could appoint a new pastor. My pastor suggested that maybe I could do that. I agreed, and two Sundays later, my wife and I drove to that small rural church. Little did we know that I would fill the pulpit in that church for thirteen years!

I have now been in the ministry for 35 years after also serving churches in Virginia and Maryland. I am currently retired...well, sort of. In my retirement, I am now serving as part-time Pastor of First Evangelical Covenant Church in Superior Wi. I began writing books about seven years ago, and still enjoy speaking and teaching when I can. My wife Judy passed away in 2021and I have since remarried to My wife Crystal.

I have a deep desire to help people grow in their faith and knowledge of God’s Word. My books are what I call a “Quest for Discipleship”. As I said, I am a published author and I have nineteen books which include my latest called "Tell Me, Show Me, Fill Me, Change Me"; "In It For Life"; “By His Hand”; “Show and Tell”; “The Promised Gift”; “Jars of Clay”; “The Kingdom of God”; “From the Pastor’s Desk”; “More From the Pastor’s Desk”; "T.E.A.M."; "Let Earth Receive Her King"; "Therefore" "Principles from Proverbs"; "God's Top ten"; "Prayer Changes Things", "5 R's of Revelation" and two "Renewed Faith" 90 day devotionals all by Life Ministries Publishing.

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Friday, December 13, 2013

“Traditions” - Mark 7:1-9

    When we think of Christmas, certain images come to mind; Joseph, walking along side of Mary - a pregnant woman bumping along on the back of a donkey; Bethlehem filled with disgruntled tax payers who have come for the census; A crowded Inn; Singing angels; kneeling shepherds; a manger scene with animals and a little drummer boy surrounding the hay filled cradle holding the Christ child; O yes, and the “wise men” bearing gifts following the star. Most of us could just about recite the Christmas story by heart because we have heard it so many times. Unfortunately, traditions sometimes take on more meaning than the season was originally intended to preserve. Celebrations of the event take on more meaning than the event itself.  For many, Christmas has become so materialistic that it has lost the importance of the “good news! Of Great Joy” that the angels proclaimed.
    It’s easy sometimes, to become so attached to traditions that we don’t even really think about it much. Traditions, whether they are Christmas traditions, family traditions, or even church traditions, they are like a double-edged sword. On one hand, they add meaning to life because they help us to remember significant people or events in our lives, and that’s good. On the other hand, they can become so routine and mundane that we end up going through the motions with no real meaning attached. We do church because we have always done church; we do the family stuff because we have always done the family stuff. We do Advent because we have always done Advent, and somehow, we lose the “feeling” and the reason WHY we do the traditions; and that’s a bad thing.
    Our scripture says; “These people say they are mine, they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”…”They worship me in vain.”  In other words, they have it right on the outside; right words; right actions; but on the inside there was nothing. No feeling, no passion, no sincerity. The goal of this message is to try and develop some meaning to some of the Christmas traditions we all hold near this time of year.
   We are accustom to seeing signs and bumper stickers that proclaim; “Jesus is the reason for the season”… and  it’s a really nice slogan that we as Christians have tried to impress upon the Christmas season; But the truth is that most Christmas traditions are not Christian in origin. I am not trying to spoil or put a damper on Christmas, my purpose is to show how we can “put Christ in Christmas” and truly celebrate for the right reason.
    Many of the things that characterize our modern Christmas holiday originated from pagan practices that existed long before Jesus was even born. In fact, no one really knows when Jesus was born…that is, the exact date…but, we can come fairly close just by examining scripture and other historical books.
    How did they come up with this date December 25th?  Is this 2013 years after the birth of Jesus? In 46 BC, Julius Caesar came up with the “Julian Calendar” with 12 months and 365 days. It was based on the founding of the city of Rome. In 1582 AD, the calendar was revised by Pope Gregory, because it had fallen behind by 10 days. He declared October 5th to be October 15th and arranged for Leap Years. He based the new calendar on the date believed to be the birth of Christ; and our current calendar today is still called the “Gregorian Calendar”. It’s pretty accurate, but it’s off by 26 seconds each year. HOWEVER, at that rate, it will take 3,323 years to build up a single day. SO, in the year 3,905  you all get an extra day! Our calendar is based on the birth of Jesus. If you look in your Bible, the birth of Jesus is dated at 3 or 4 B.C. …..How do we know this?  The Bible tells us that Jesus was born when Herod was King. We know that he reigned for 37 years. Josephus (a Jewish historian) says that there was a lunar eclipse shortly after Herod’s death. And, that Herod died 7 days before the eclipse. The eclipse is dated in March of 4 B.C.  So, we have a pretty good idea that Jesus was born in 3 or 4 B.C.
    But what about December 25th? If you look up Christmas in the Encyclopedia, you will discover that various people throughout Europe held festivals in December to celebrate the end of the harvest season. As part of these celebrations the people prepared special foods; decorated their homes with greenery; and joined in a time of gift giving. It was also a celebration of the winter solstice or the “return of the SUN”.  In Rome, it was known as “the day of the Unconquerable SUN.” So, the question is; “How did Christmas - which means Mass of Christ - get connected with all these different customs and traditions?
    The answer is that as Christianity spread, missionaries used the culture of the times to communicate Christ to the people. Imagine, being a Christian missionary in a culture where people are celebrating the “Un-conquerable SUN”…It’s a no brainer to speak about the unconquerable SON of God - who was born in a manger in Bethlehem - who was born to be the Savior of the world - And that He ought to be the reason for celebrating the season.
    There’s a prime example of this in Acts 17 concerning the Apostle Paul; It says that Paul was walking along in Athens (Which was the center of Greek knowledge) and he noticed that the city was full of idols and objects of worship. Paul then attended a meeting in the Air-e-opagus, and right in the middle of the meeting, he stood up and said; “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious…For, as I walked around your great city, I observed your objects of worship. I even found an altar with the inscription “To an unknown god”… Then, he went on to explain to them who that “unknown” God was!
    By the way, the church today still uses this strategy of using culture to proclaim Christ. Not only on the mission field, but here in the church as well. The musical instruments and the choruses we sing are an example. Now, with all that in mind, is it possible to bring real meaning into our Christmas traditions?
    We have two options; One is that we reject Christmas as a pagan celebration that was adopted by a compromising church and do away with the tree, the lights, the mistletoe, the presents, and put a sign on our door that says; “Santa not welcomed here!” “Get your reindeer off my roof!” Or, we can rediscover the Christian meaning in - and look for the symbolism in - the customs and traditions of how we celebrate today. We can find the true Christmas story if we are looking for it.
    For instance, you may have seen this used on a simple candy cane; The cane symbolizes the shepherd staff, the red reminds me of the blood of Christ shed for my sins, the white a symbol of the purity and holiness of God.  Or, how about the tree? It’s an “evergreen” which reminds of the everlasting life that is mine in Jesus Christ; The lights remind me that Jesus is the light of the world, and if I am close to Him I will never be in darkness; The fact that it is in God’s house reminds me that it is here that eternal life is found, and that Jesus must be in me for me to have that eternal life.
    Perhaps you have read of the symbolism of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”…. Designed to help young Christians learn their faith and their Bible… “Two turtle doves” representing the Old and New Testaments; “Five golden rings” representing the first five books of Moses known as the Pentateuch…and so on…with a different Christian meaning for each of the 12 days.
    What kinds of traditions and traditional things do you celebrate at Christmas?  What kind of symbolism can you find in the those traditions?  Think about using them as an opportunity to tell the real story to children and grandchildren and to friends and family. Plant a seed this Christmas…you never know how it will grow! 
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