Dear BMA of Missouri Churches:
WOW, well, here we are! It is Thanksgiving and then Christmas season. But relax! According to the media, we won’t have Christmas this year because all the “stuff” that makes Christmas Christmas is out on shipping containers in the sea for one reason or another. So, we will not be able to have Christmas the way we are used to … wait for it … GOOD! Now, why would I say that? Because if those folks think that some $50 gadget is the sum total of Christmas, then they truly have allowed the commercialization of Christmas to blind them.
Dear Churches, Christmas has always been a little babe in a manger bringing God’s love to the world. And it still is!I am so glad that the love of Jesus is not dependent on the supply chain of America. (As someone posted on Facebook “Christmas isn’t stranded on ships in either ocean. God delivered Christmas over 2,000 years ago. JESUS CHRIST is Christmas!)
Some of you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, Bro. Ben, aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves? We have Thanksgiving first, don’t we? Yes, no doubt! But I wanted to highlight what the news is cramming down our throats because in their eyes, if we can’t have Christmas the way we are used to, why on earth would we have anything to be thankful for?
Let’s count, shall we? For the moment we still have a free country. We still have the freedom to worship the way we biblically see fit. We still have a representative government. We still have free elections. We can still move throughout the country with freedom. We can still own and sell property. Now, are many of these freedoms being threatened? Absolutely! But we should be thankful that we have them at this moment.
Let’s get personal. We should be thankful for our physical health, at whatever level. We have our families and their health, at whatever level. We have friends. We have our churches. We have the Gospel. We have the Bible. We have the Church we attend. We have our Sunday School or Small Groups class we attend. We have the transcendent cause of sharing the Gospel with our friends, neighbors, and relatives.
My friends, we are a blessed people. Did you notice what is missing from that list? All the stuff that, if we are not careful, we think our life is truly about. But sir or ma’am, please go back over that list slowly and ask yourself, “Are these not the elements of our lives that truly matter?” If we take this attitude into Thanksgiving and Christmas, we will truly have a blessed holiday season.
Now for the real reason for this article. I know, I know! It’s long, please bear with me till the end.
I have done several funerals in October including: a 54 year old man, Jeff Folk from our church, 52 year old Karen Oats, wife of Bro. Eddie Paul (Pastor at Berean, who did the main portion of the service), and 62 year old Sandy Belew, my next door neighbor. If I missed one, please forgive me. My memory is not what it used to be.
These, however, stand out to me because I am 56 years old, so in that respect these are ‘my people.’ I don’t know about you, but my way of thinking is that this is way too young. Bro. Jeff went to sleep one night and never woke up. Sis Karen and Sis Sandy fought cancer for many years.
We are not promised tomorrow. This is the motto that has gone through my mind all month in response to the news of each of these home-goings: “One life to live, soon it will pass, only what’s done for Christ will last.”
If you have gone through the BMAMO assessment, you know that the whole point of the document is to put the emphasis of our lives on people and their eternal souls. That which truly matters is that which will last forever. The stuff on those shipping containers will rot in a matter of years while our souls will last forever. Please make your life about that which Christ made His life about: the lost souls of men, women, boys, and girls.
May the Lord richly bless you is my prayer.
Bro. Ben Kingston
