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ilies a number of factors might explain his popularity his long tenure there the quality of his work his likeable demeanor that endears him to others all of those things could be said of albert lexie but what is truly admirable is his generosity since 1981 lexie has given 200 000 of his personal income to the hospital s free care fund for three decades the task of shining shoes has been incidental to lexie s true work making children well his job was about shoes his vocation was about changing lives shining shoes and shepherding are nothing alike but they share this in common neither of them are careers to which we aspire we don t dream of seeing our kids shine shoes and when jesus was born no one thought very highly of shepherding at christmas we tend to romanticize and sentimentalize the shepherds when luke tells us that there were shepherds abiding in the fields at night we could easily substitute there was a dot worker standing in a toll booth during the night shift the shepherds were working and working a very mundane job at that interestingly once the shepherds had gone to bethlehem and seen the christ child we are told that they returned praising and glorifying god returned to what they went back to same job same flock same fields but they went back with more than a task they had a vocation they had good news to tell some of you perhaps many of you are reading this as you get ready for a day of work you might even be at work as we reflect on the shepherds at christmas and a man who shines shoes this question comes up what are you working for today this is different than asking what your job is or who your boss is a better and deeper question is what is your work about the significance of what you do is not defined by a title you have or a position you hold in the organization you don t find a vocation by earning advanced degrees albert lexi shows us that the most ordinary work can make a difference in the lives of people as you go back to work return like the shepherds work like albert lexi even the smallest and most ordinary tasks have meaning when done by people who know they are called prayer be glorified in my work today o god and help me to find meaning in your call more than title or position or income work through me to accomplish your work in this world i ask in jesus s name amen posted by mark crumpler at 5 30 am no comments tuesday december 17 2013 a way through though you are small among the clans of judah out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over israel micah 5 1 5 few things are more painful than hitting a wall over and over again in a relationship that we care deeply about were it not for our desire to get through to someone we would just stop and walk away but walking away isn t an option and so our collision with the wall continues maybe you know about this the wall may stand between you and one of your children they simply won t listen to your counsel or believe that what you say you say out of love quite often the wall stands between spouses built brick by brick with years of hurt now it stands there high and insurmountable walls like this are found between managers and employees teachers and students what all of these walls share in common is their foundation in this nagging question what will it take to get through we are prone to use direct assault against those walls we argue insist plead promise nothing gives the direct assault proves useless leaving us with tears and sleepless nights c s lewis the man behind the chronicles of narnia is known to most of us as an articulate defender of the christian faith if he wasn t defending the faith he was often explaining it intelligently to its critics lewis was skilled and powerful in argument he gained a reputation at oxford for being ruthless in debate the book most closely associated with his name is mere christianity a volume that remains widely used in presenting the faith to sceptics given lewis s legacy as an apologist and his gifts for razor sharp reasoning and argumentation it is somewhat surprising that he openly cautioned others against theological debate and argument lewis once wrote no doctrine of the faith seems to me so spectral so unreal as one that i have just successfully defended in public debate we apologists take our lives in our hands and can be saved only falling back continually from apologetics to christ himself thus lewis toward the end of his life set aside the task of writing arguments for the christian faith and turned to stories in a 1954 letter lewis stated that the imaginative man in me is older the poet in lewis was there long before the books of apologetics and the poet was never entirely absent from him even in those works lewis was drawn to a vision of the christian life not simply arguments for it so what does this have to do with you and your desire to get through to someone you love maybe lewis teaches us that whatever it is we want to say or tell to someone must also be lived and shown sometimes the way through is indirect quietly lived rather than shouted shown rather than explained it is left handed power what is your vision of how things would look if you could get through to the person you love how can you begin living that vision today prayer merciful god grant me grace to show what i ve tried hard to say to demonstrate what i ve sought to explain grant to me a vision and help me to live it i ask in jesus s name amen posted by mark crumpler at 5 30 am no comments monday december 16 2013 the rat though you are small among the clans of judah out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over israel micah 5 1 5 pat conroy s book my losing season is a memoir built around the story of conroy s senior year on the citadel basketball team a minor character who appears throughout the book is the team trainer joe eubanks everyone on the team called him the rat one of the most moving chapters of the book is the story of the citadel s game against in vmi in 1967 this grueling contest went into four overtimes before the citadel secured a victory when conroy made it back to the locker room his body was so exhausted that he couldn t undress himself the rat pulled the sweat soaked shirt over conroy s head and unlaced his shoes he pulled off his rancid socks and helped him stand up from the bench to walk to the showers just a few years later the rat was killed in vietnam at the end of that chapter conroy tells of visiting the vietnam veterans memorial in washington with his finger he traced the names that are etched in the wall names of boys he knew with each visit to the memorial the last name he touches is the name of his trainer joe eubanks at this point in the book conroy writes it is always here at this name that the vietnam veterans memorial unhinges me and i weep as though i will never be able to stop my weeping is so public and visceral that i always draw the attention of other visitors and they put their arms around me and try to console me veterans ask if joe was a member of my unit and i shake my head no women ask me if i lost a brother the sons and daughters of men whose names are on the wall want to know why joe eubanks meant so much to me and they all look disappointed even dismayed when i blurt out in a tear strangled voice he gave me towels the rat gave me towels p 302 the high impact moments of your day are probably not on your calendar your mental and emotional energy may be directed to the meeting you need to attend and the holiday tasks that still aren t done you may be facing a deadline or packing to catch a flight all of those things matter but the high impact moments of this day are moments you haven t planned because they are small and ordinary do not despise the small things getting your kids to school conversation in the kitchen interactions with co workers a compliment or affirmation holding hands a kiss on the forehead christmas reminds us that sacred things come in small ways pay attention to small things today what you do without a thought may last a long time in someone else s memory prayer gracious and loving god throughout this day grant to me the gift of your spirit that i might embrace the small things the unapplauded tasks the people on the margins work through me to refresh the heart of someone else in the name and strength of jesus our lord amen posted by mark crumpler at 7 03 am no comments friday december 13 2013 a shadow over bethlehem and a sword will pierce your own soul too luke 2 35 simeon had been dead for decades but what he had spoken to mary had lived on mary had heard and seen many things about her son that she treasured in her heart silently pondering and praying over them through the years time and time again the words of simeon had echoed in her mind this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too luke 2 34 35 on this day simeon long dead mary remembered him she saw again his wrinkled hands reaching for her son she saw again his weathered face raised to heaven in gratitude she remembered his peculiar and ominous words and a sword will piece your own soul too on this day standing on a hill not far from that jerusalem temple watching the agony of her child she felt the sword pierce deep at this season of the year we love stories of the christ child mangers and livestock shepherds with their flocks and magi with their gifts angelic hosts announcing the birth in david s city this is the story we love this is what we gather to celebrate simeon however reminds us where all of this is going this child is the dividing line of history some will rise to new life because of him others will stumble and fall he will be adored and spoken against believed or rejected over the manger and the child the cross looms large we cannot separate the incarnation from the crucifixion but we try we much prefer a cross less christmas we had rather not have that shadow lingering over our happy holidays nevertheless all who are invited to adore the christ child will also be invited to follow jesus of nazareth and to follow jesus is to take up a cross the same isaiah who said that a child was born unto us also spoke of a man acquainted with sorrow one by whose stripes we are healed this week we ve pondered the darker side of the christmas story if you ve ever been inclined to think of simeon as a sweet old man benign and harmless think again simeon speaks to us about a sword and stumbling and our hearts being exposed simeon readies us for the cross like mary we would do well to treasure these things in our hearts prayer lord jesus we often celebrate your birth without the soul piercing reality of the cross remind us today of why you came and give us power in this season of the year to be people who love sacrificially teach us what it means to take up a cross and follow you at christmas time and as we follow make us truly joyful people we pray amen posted by mark crumpler at 5 30 am no comments thursday december 12 2013 for all who struggle during christmas now war arose in heaven revelation 12 7 in the lion the witch and the wardrobe there is a scene in which father christmas makes an appearance bringing gifts to the main characters of the story peter susan and lucy as we saw earlier this week younger brother edmund has become cozy with the white witch only to become her captive the gifts were not what we typically think of as christmas presents for peter a sword and shield for susan a bow and arrows for lucy a healing potion and a dagger these gifts are designed for warfare as father christmas begins to present them to the children he cautions them these are tools not toys when most of us think of the christmas story we hear in our minds the words of luke s gospel whether we are consciously aware of it or not these phrases capture the drama of christmas shepherds abiding in the fields no room in the inn a babe in swaddling clothes there is however another and very different nativity story at the end of the bible in revelation 12 there is a story of a woman who gives birth to a baby a great red dragon awaits the birth of the child intending to devour it when the child is born he is taken up to heaven his birth instigates warfare between the dragon and his angels and the angel michael with his angel army the dragon is thrown down to earth he is defeated but not finished knowing that he will not overcome the child who is born to rule all nations the dragon wages a war against humankind the scene is bizarre to us but it is not hard to understand in his book reversed thunder eugene peterson adds this helpful comment it is st john s genius to take jesus in the manger attended by shepherds and wisemen and put him in the cosmos attacked by a dragon the consequence for our faith is that we are fortified against intimidation our response to the nativity cannot be reduced to shutting the door against a wintry world drinking hot chocolate and singing carols rather we are ready to walk out the door with a one psalmist put it high praises of gods in our throats and two edged swords in our hands ps 149 6 revelation 12 is without question the most overlooked christmas story in scripture there is nothing cuddly in john s nativity scene this christmas story tells us that in the birth of jesus the devil is defeated he is defeated but not done he thrashes about even now wreaking havoc among humankind and we are in a fight we can hardly be surprised the john s visions are ignored in december we don t like talk of warfare but all of us know people who struggle at christmas you may be one of those people the dragon takes the form of loneliness illness alienation depression the struggle may be silent but it is real in jesus however you are equipped by the spirit we receive what we need for the fight tools not toys as lewis wrote god gives what you need for this time this season where do you see someone struggling at this time of year what gift or blessing can you give to them today prayer we pray today o god for all who struggle in this season of the year grant them what they need in the fight and fill them with confidence in your victory through the child born in the manger we ask in jesus s name amen posted by mark crumpler at 5 30 am no comments wednesday december 11 2013 god on the offensive the reason the son of god appeared was to destroy the works of the devil 1 john 3 8 though their numbers are shrinking there are still plenty of people around who remember december 7 1941 this past weekend marked 72 years since the attack on pearl harbor the phrase a day that will live in infamy is widely known even by those who have no memory of the infamous day the infamy does indeed remain rooted in the stunning act of aggression aimed at our nation over the weekend we remembered those who lost their lives at pearl harbor moreover we remember...