Wow, the Christmas Season sure is the busiest time of the year! I feel like I have been working on getting ready for next weekend since I finished school on Friday. There is so much to do to get ready for Christmas, finding time to prepare by blog and presentation has been difficult for both this and Friday’s edition. With all of this busyness and hustle, we all must be careful not to lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. My presentation will be fairly short today, but I hope its impact is profound. Also, a reminder to check out Lance Pisowicz Online (www.wix.comlancejp/online). From there you can access my Facebook and Twitter page, my Youtube channel, and everything to do with my blogs. You can fill out a prayer request there by clicking on the “Media” tab at the top of your page. We hope you enjoy Lance’s Weekly Walk and everything there for you at Lance Pisowicz Online.
Let’s move on to today’s key focus. I think I summed it all up pretty well in our opening. It is insane as to exactly how busy we have all become at Christmas time. Buying gifts, baking cookies, and decorating the house are all terrific, but when it begins to take the place or even overshadow celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, we must reevaluate exactly where we stand in that circumstance.
I know I have talked about Christmas several times in my last few blogs, but the truth is, that is the key topic this time of year. Almost everything that is not business related has to deal with Christmas at this point. I take that back, Christmas even seeps into business conversations as well.
We all want to know where that great sale is, who is opening earliest on Black Friday, and how quickly our orders from Amazon can be shipped to us. The question becomes, has Christmas itself become a “god?”
I think most of us can agree we do not “worship” a holiday, at least not in the same way we do God. But, there are some things that suggest Christmas can become an idol. A large portion of our income is fed into it (buying gifts, decorations, food, etc.). It is constantly on our minds throughout December, and we may depend on it to lift our spirits.
However, as long as Christmas is being celebrated, first and foremost, as the birth of Jesus Christ, there is nothing wrong with making it special. If any holiday is to receive such attention, Christ’s birthday ought to be the one.
As I continue to prepare for my family’s Christmas and you do the same, let’s remember that the true reason for the season, is Jesus.
Thank you for joining us again today. I hope you have enjoyed your time here, and I invite you to join us on Lance Pisowicz Online (www.wix.com/lancejp/online). Also be sure to go to our online form if you wish to share your thoughts on this show or What’s Wrong With Washington” (www.lponline.wufoo.com/forms/z7x3k7/). Also, I would like to inform you that there will not be a “Weekly Walk” for next Sunday or on New Year’s Day. I will do a combined presentation for both my “Weekly Walk” and “What’s Wrong With Washington” on Friday for the next two weeks. I hope you will join me for those special presentations. Thanks again and we will see you Friday!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Take the Wheel
Winter has finally arrived for real in Chicago! We had our first snow that actually accumulated on the ground Thursday night and caught many of us “off guard.” I left for school at about 6:45 AM that morning, so the roads were still very slick. There is nothing like the first true snow/ice experience of winter to making driving treacherous no matter how mild it may be compared to later storms. With hundreds of teenagers on the icy road (many of whom were driving in these conditions for the first time) the risks are very high. I saw numerous people try to accelerate from stops signs at a normal pace and yet slid across the slippery pavement. I myself had to adjust how fast I accelerated after I realized that just doing what I normally do was not going to work. With the ice, I knew that four-wheel drive would do little good, and decided to I take a little longer to get to school because of the driving conditions, but I still made it to class on time and the most important thing was safety.
The only instance where I felt my safety was in question was when I turned off of U.S. 41 onto a small street which led to the parking lot my spot was at. I normally turn the corner at about 20 mph off of 41, and then I am at the speed limit of 20 when I get on that road. However, this turn is a little tight because of it only being a one lane street, with a median dividing it from the oncoming traffic on the other side. I decided that I would turn the corner about 5 mph slower, being cautious about attempting to slow down too much on U.S. 41 but not turning the corner onto the smaller street too quickly. What a “rookie” mistake I made! Apparently the corner area was much icier than any other patch of pavement I had driven on before. I turned onto the street at about 15 mph. Immediately I heard the anti-lock brakes kicking in; at first I thought this was normal. Even with the anti-lock brakes, I was still going to fast considering the ice. The vehicle skidded across the ice headed directly for several bushes and a brick wall on the median. I felt part of the vehicle thump over the curb as I kept my foot pressed against the brake as I had been taught in driving school and turned the wheel sharply to the right to avoid the brick wall and the bushes. I missed one of the bushes by only about 2 feet. I then drove over the curb back onto the street, safe and sound. I was only a turn away from reaching the parking lot so I carefully drove the truck over there. I then checked the vehicle for any damage that may have been inflicted. All I noticed was that the front tires had some scrapes and that one of the rims had been scratched a little. I made sure the tires had not been punctured and attempted to start the car again. When I was satisfied, I then proceeded to class. Throughout the day I worried about the tire deflating because of the trauma along with the cold weather. However, the tires were still suitable to drive the truck home. In the end, my parents and I decided that we needed to replace the tires anyway, along with lots of other repairs that need to be made on the vehicle (it’s ten years old) and have the rim polished up. That moment where I was skidding toward the brick wall was the most frightening part of the entire experience. That thought of fight for or even losing control of your own life.
Without God who is in control of our fate? Obviously we must either choose to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior or deny him, but what about the control aspect of it? When we deny Christ, we are saying that we desire to be in complete control of our own lives. We want to decide what to do for a career, where to live, how to act, and what to believe, all without God’s influence. If we choose to accept Christ as our own personal Savior, then we are giving him sovereign control of our lives.
Even when we desire to have that control for ourselves, not accepting Christ does not guarantee we will always have that control. We can lose that control because we are humans and make errors, just like I made the error or trying to turn the corner too quickly.
If you ask me, I would much rather have God in control of my life. Why? Because God does not make errors. He is perfect, flawless, blameless, and all-knowing. He knows what we are going to think, say, or do even before it happens.
By not letting God “take the wheel” we are setting ourselves up for the potential of losing control. We may not “wreck” our lives physically, but there will be consequences for our failings.
We may suffer from depression, in which we are never happy with where we are in life, not matter how successful or unsuccessful we may be in the world’s eyes.
We might be brought down by greed in which we always desire to have more, do more, and be more than we are in a present state. There is nothing wrong with striving for the best, but when it becomes self-consuming, it has become your god.
Without God being in control of our lives, we will never be truly satisfied. All things accomplished in the name of the world and man will mean nothing in eternity.
There is a secular saying that “You can’t take it with you” and that runs parallel with a bible verse from one of Jesus’s parables:
Mark 8:36 (NIV):
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
What good will in do if you do not accomplish something to last for eternity. Unless you are living in God’s will you will never be happy and run the risk of losing control. So tell God, “Take the Wheel.” You’re the expert driver.
The only instance where I felt my safety was in question was when I turned off of U.S. 41 onto a small street which led to the parking lot my spot was at. I normally turn the corner at about 20 mph off of 41, and then I am at the speed limit of 20 when I get on that road. However, this turn is a little tight because of it only being a one lane street, with a median dividing it from the oncoming traffic on the other side. I decided that I would turn the corner about 5 mph slower, being cautious about attempting to slow down too much on U.S. 41 but not turning the corner onto the smaller street too quickly. What a “rookie” mistake I made! Apparently the corner area was much icier than any other patch of pavement I had driven on before. I turned onto the street at about 15 mph. Immediately I heard the anti-lock brakes kicking in; at first I thought this was normal. Even with the anti-lock brakes, I was still going to fast considering the ice. The vehicle skidded across the ice headed directly for several bushes and a brick wall on the median. I felt part of the vehicle thump over the curb as I kept my foot pressed against the brake as I had been taught in driving school and turned the wheel sharply to the right to avoid the brick wall and the bushes. I missed one of the bushes by only about 2 feet. I then drove over the curb back onto the street, safe and sound. I was only a turn away from reaching the parking lot so I carefully drove the truck over there. I then checked the vehicle for any damage that may have been inflicted. All I noticed was that the front tires had some scrapes and that one of the rims had been scratched a little. I made sure the tires had not been punctured and attempted to start the car again. When I was satisfied, I then proceeded to class. Throughout the day I worried about the tire deflating because of the trauma along with the cold weather. However, the tires were still suitable to drive the truck home. In the end, my parents and I decided that we needed to replace the tires anyway, along with lots of other repairs that need to be made on the vehicle (it’s ten years old) and have the rim polished up. That moment where I was skidding toward the brick wall was the most frightening part of the entire experience. That thought of fight for or even losing control of your own life.
Without God who is in control of our fate? Obviously we must either choose to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior or deny him, but what about the control aspect of it? When we deny Christ, we are saying that we desire to be in complete control of our own lives. We want to decide what to do for a career, where to live, how to act, and what to believe, all without God’s influence. If we choose to accept Christ as our own personal Savior, then we are giving him sovereign control of our lives.
Even when we desire to have that control for ourselves, not accepting Christ does not guarantee we will always have that control. We can lose that control because we are humans and make errors, just like I made the error or trying to turn the corner too quickly.
If you ask me, I would much rather have God in control of my life. Why? Because God does not make errors. He is perfect, flawless, blameless, and all-knowing. He knows what we are going to think, say, or do even before it happens.
By not letting God “take the wheel” we are setting ourselves up for the potential of losing control. We may not “wreck” our lives physically, but there will be consequences for our failings.
We may suffer from depression, in which we are never happy with where we are in life, not matter how successful or unsuccessful we may be in the world’s eyes.
We might be brought down by greed in which we always desire to have more, do more, and be more than we are in a present state. There is nothing wrong with striving for the best, but when it becomes self-consuming, it has become your god.
Without God being in control of our lives, we will never be truly satisfied. All things accomplished in the name of the world and man will mean nothing in eternity.
There is a secular saying that “You can’t take it with you” and that runs parallel with a bible verse from one of Jesus’s parables:
Mark 8:36 (NIV):
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
What good will in do if you do not accomplish something to last for eternity. Unless you are living in God’s will you will never be happy and run the risk of losing control. So tell God, “Take the Wheel.” You’re the expert driver.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Christmas Commercialism?
How has the Christmas and holiday season been treating you so far? I believe many of us love this time of year for many reasons. We all love the presents, the family, the decorations, and of course the food! Yet I think we all tend to forget the true meaning of Christmas. We get so caught up in all of the commercialism and hype that we forget what Christmas is really all about.
Usually by the time Christmas rolls around, we are so exhausted that we can’t even fully enjoy the holiday. Then comes the time where for several days, you are in almost a vegetable state, not wanting to do anything because you are so tired. The worst thing is for those of you who have to go to work the next day or even a couple of days after Christmas. Then after New Year’s, unless you are going on vacation or have something special on the schedule, January and February drag on for what seems like years. For me personally, it usually takes the Super Bowl for me to finally get out of that “Post-Holiday” funk.
I hope I’m not depressing you with all of this. We all now it’s the truth, but the good news is that once Christmas ends, the next one is just that much closer. If I am coming off to you as saying, “What is the point to the Christmas season and the holidays anyhow?” then I apologize.
The truth is that the Christmas season is arguably the best time of the year for making memories. In fact, when children grow up and become adults themselves, some of the greatest memories of their childhood are Christmas ones. They remember the presents, the family gatherings, the decorations, and I know us guys remember the food! Some of the things that make Christmas the most fun and memorable are the icons and the hype that surrounds it all. Santa Claus is something that little kids look forward to all year, and who doesn’t put up a Christmas tree, sing Christmas carols, or bake Christmas cookies?
While none of this is the actual meaning behind Christmas, I personally feel that it is a great avenue to reaching others for Christ. For those many families in the United States and around the world who have strayed from God, many of them still celebrate Christmas. Why? The simple answer is tradition. That is what they did growing up and that is what they continue to do, although I’d wager to say that a good share of them don’t understand the true meaning of it all.
I’m going to share a brief history lesson with you, so don’t fall asleep on me now! In the early days of American colonization, some of the Puritans refused to celebrate Christmas. It wasn’t the simply choosing not to put up a Christmas tree or singing the Christmas hymns, but they skipped the holiday all together! The Puritans felt that the tradition of Christmas was a Catholic holiday that had become somewhat of a phenomenon. They believed that people got caught up in the culture of Christmas and all that came with it and forgot the true meaning of it.
As I descendant of some colonists in Massachusetts, some of which were Puritans, I will say that with no disrespect, they were both right and wrong. People had and still do get caught up in the culture of Christmas. The solution, however, was not to skip the holiday. All that did was eventually push colonists away from the faith until the First Great Awakening occurred in the mid-1700s. By that time, some German immigrants were bringing their tradition of the Christmas tree to America and along with them; some Catholic settlers were bringing over some of the hymns that had traditionally sung.
So what was the solution that needed to be reached? The best way to deal with this issue was not a direct, aggressive attack on the tradition. The idea I feel handles this in the greatest possible fashion is incorporating the people’s culture into the faith, as long as God remains at the center of all of it. Personally, I do not think it matters how you worship God as long as it is done from a Biblical perspective.
Eventually these incorporation of the different ways of celebrating Christmas and worshiping God developed into our modern day Christianity and Christmas season. Are we still too commercial? Absolutely, however, we need to take some of this commercialism and use it to our advantage.
Every other year, since 1997 my church puts on a fantastic presentation of the story of Christmas, called Journey to Bethlehem. Over three thousand people from our community attend this event every time it is presented. In fact, last year we used social media, the newspaper, flyers, and banners to spread the word about this event. I think the opportunities are tremendous and there is no limit to how many people can be reached through such settings.
For those of us who are already Christians, the issue becomes what to do with the traditions of Christmas that do not feature Christ. While Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer are all fun and loveable, none of them died on the Cross for our sins. Not one of them rose from the dead, and not one of them is coming back to rein on this earth for a thousand years before establishing a new Heaven and a new Earth. The bottom line is that through all of the holiday fun and excitement, keeping Christ at the center of all of it is of utmost importance.
This does not require that much thought or effort, and every person or family should use their judgment on this. There is not necessary a right or wrong way or keeping Christ at the center. Here’s a few simple ideas for you: put a star/angel on your tree and remember the meaning of it; take a candy cane and explain to your kids what it means (the upside-down “J” shape, the red standing for the blood of Christ, and the white standing for being cleansed by the Holy Spirit); attend a Christmas service at your local church or read the story of Christmas with your family by the tree or fireplace. You don’t have to go out and purchase a nativity scene for your yard or even find a live presentation of the story of Christmas (although either of these would enhance your Christmas season). I’ll leave you with this parting Bible verse that I think is the top thing we need to remember:
Luke 2:11 (KJV):
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
That is what happened on the first Christmas. No matter how you celebrate the holiday, remember that this is why you are celebrating.
Usually by the time Christmas rolls around, we are so exhausted that we can’t even fully enjoy the holiday. Then comes the time where for several days, you are in almost a vegetable state, not wanting to do anything because you are so tired. The worst thing is for those of you who have to go to work the next day or even a couple of days after Christmas. Then after New Year’s, unless you are going on vacation or have something special on the schedule, January and February drag on for what seems like years. For me personally, it usually takes the Super Bowl for me to finally get out of that “Post-Holiday” funk.
I hope I’m not depressing you with all of this. We all now it’s the truth, but the good news is that once Christmas ends, the next one is just that much closer. If I am coming off to you as saying, “What is the point to the Christmas season and the holidays anyhow?” then I apologize.
The truth is that the Christmas season is arguably the best time of the year for making memories. In fact, when children grow up and become adults themselves, some of the greatest memories of their childhood are Christmas ones. They remember the presents, the family gatherings, the decorations, and I know us guys remember the food! Some of the things that make Christmas the most fun and memorable are the icons and the hype that surrounds it all. Santa Claus is something that little kids look forward to all year, and who doesn’t put up a Christmas tree, sing Christmas carols, or bake Christmas cookies?
While none of this is the actual meaning behind Christmas, I personally feel that it is a great avenue to reaching others for Christ. For those many families in the United States and around the world who have strayed from God, many of them still celebrate Christmas. Why? The simple answer is tradition. That is what they did growing up and that is what they continue to do, although I’d wager to say that a good share of them don’t understand the true meaning of it all.
I’m going to share a brief history lesson with you, so don’t fall asleep on me now! In the early days of American colonization, some of the Puritans refused to celebrate Christmas. It wasn’t the simply choosing not to put up a Christmas tree or singing the Christmas hymns, but they skipped the holiday all together! The Puritans felt that the tradition of Christmas was a Catholic holiday that had become somewhat of a phenomenon. They believed that people got caught up in the culture of Christmas and all that came with it and forgot the true meaning of it.
As I descendant of some colonists in Massachusetts, some of which were Puritans, I will say that with no disrespect, they were both right and wrong. People had and still do get caught up in the culture of Christmas. The solution, however, was not to skip the holiday. All that did was eventually push colonists away from the faith until the First Great Awakening occurred in the mid-1700s. By that time, some German immigrants were bringing their tradition of the Christmas tree to America and along with them; some Catholic settlers were bringing over some of the hymns that had traditionally sung.
So what was the solution that needed to be reached? The best way to deal with this issue was not a direct, aggressive attack on the tradition. The idea I feel handles this in the greatest possible fashion is incorporating the people’s culture into the faith, as long as God remains at the center of all of it. Personally, I do not think it matters how you worship God as long as it is done from a Biblical perspective.
Eventually these incorporation of the different ways of celebrating Christmas and worshiping God developed into our modern day Christianity and Christmas season. Are we still too commercial? Absolutely, however, we need to take some of this commercialism and use it to our advantage.
Every other year, since 1997 my church puts on a fantastic presentation of the story of Christmas, called Journey to Bethlehem. Over three thousand people from our community attend this event every time it is presented. In fact, last year we used social media, the newspaper, flyers, and banners to spread the word about this event. I think the opportunities are tremendous and there is no limit to how many people can be reached through such settings.
For those of us who are already Christians, the issue becomes what to do with the traditions of Christmas that do not feature Christ. While Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer are all fun and loveable, none of them died on the Cross for our sins. Not one of them rose from the dead, and not one of them is coming back to rein on this earth for a thousand years before establishing a new Heaven and a new Earth. The bottom line is that through all of the holiday fun and excitement, keeping Christ at the center of all of it is of utmost importance.
This does not require that much thought or effort, and every person or family should use their judgment on this. There is not necessary a right or wrong way or keeping Christ at the center. Here’s a few simple ideas for you: put a star/angel on your tree and remember the meaning of it; take a candy cane and explain to your kids what it means (the upside-down “J” shape, the red standing for the blood of Christ, and the white standing for being cleansed by the Holy Spirit); attend a Christmas service at your local church or read the story of Christmas with your family by the tree or fireplace. You don’t have to go out and purchase a nativity scene for your yard or even find a live presentation of the story of Christmas (although either of these would enhance your Christmas season). I’ll leave you with this parting Bible verse that I think is the top thing we need to remember:
Luke 2:11 (KJV):
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
That is what happened on the first Christmas. No matter how you celebrate the holiday, remember that this is why you are celebrating.
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