Christmas Day falls on Sunday this year. One sign of the times is that some churches are canceling their worship services that day. If it is true that some people only go to church at Christmas and Easter, why cancel church? I believe Christmas on Sunday is a very important time for friends and families to worship together. Christmas Day can also be a very stressful and exhausting time for many. This year we will open the church doors for our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Lord’s Supper Service on Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. and gather at 10:00 a.m. for a Christmas morning brunch and worship hour. Christmas on Sunday is special.

For someone on their own or even traveling, Christmas can become a quiet and unsettling day. In 2006, Christmas Day was on a Monday. That meant two special Sunday services on Christmas Eve. Our family, for what must have been some really good reason, had decided to go on a brief holiday cruise to Mexico, leaving from Galveston on Christmas afternoon. That meant a family caravan road trip leaving around 10:30 p.m. on a rainy Christmas Eve. As we drove through the night the topic of conversation was about all the closed gas stations. We arrived at Dayna and Kevin’s Waco home around 4:30 a.m., took a brief nap, opened Christmas presents, then headed for Houston in three cars. We met Kevin’s parents at the only open restaurant in Houston for a too quick lunch, then we were back on the road, looking for open gas stations, barely making it to Galveston in time to board the ship. That was an exhausting and stressful Christmas day. 

What is always open on Christmas day is a different kind of sanctuary—movie theaters. The shared experience of a movie is a refuge for some and a point of connection for others. The church is that and so much more. It’s an encounter with the true and living God, who “became flesh and dwelt among us,” Jesus. It’s the place where we come to know authentic grace and truth. Here we can cast our burdens on the Lord, and hear His call to service and mission. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Make Christmas on Sunday special. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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We had a cat that looked down on us. I once read that cats were worshipped as gods in Egypt, and they have never forgotten this fact. I attributed our cat’s penchant for high places to her lineage. It is my theory that Doll was part cat and part squirrel. She was a climber. In my study at home, she would climb up on my desk, step on top of the printer, then leap to the top of the bookcase, rattling everything in sight. From her vantage point up high she would stretch, hang her head slightly off the edge and survey her kingdom.

I was given this cat as a Father’s Day gift from my wife and daughters. Doll was so pleased when we set up our Christmas tree that year. It was the largest cat toy she had ever seen. So she jumped right in and started playing with it, in it and on it. She would climb up the trunk and lurk in the branches. She would hide there quietly until some poor unsuspecting target would pass by. Then she would reach out with a quick paw and swat at me. One year I saw her climb up on the piano and lunge across the wide-open spaces, landing on the tree, sending it every which direction. I caught the tree before it fell over. Some of our ornaments have never been the same. After that, she was given her very own ornaments which were hung around the bottom of the tree to swat at her leisure. Her real goal was always higher up.  

Setting up our Christmas tree is an occasion for such memories. We have many handmade ornaments from the grandchildren, some with their pictures. Gifted ornaments from friends long ago, and a spot on the tree for the treasured pets we knew and loved. We still hang one of the cat’s ornaments down low. But oh how she loved to leap into that tree and climb up high.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Take a leap of your own. And let’s experience the love and power of God together. 

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“Anyone can give without loving, but no one can love without giving.”  Dr. James G. Harris.  My model and mentor for being a pastor was Dr. Harris, Senior Minister of the University Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. I was a member of his church, taught a 5^th Grade Boys Sunday School class and sang in the choir. Dr. Harris counseled Dorothy and I as we prepared to marry. Together Dorothy and I taught the Junior High Youth Class on Sunday evenings and helped in the young adult department. Dr. Harris led my ordination council and sent us forth to Tulsa in 1973. 

The story is told about an elementary school holiday program called Christmas Love. If you have ever been to one you understand the excited nervousness of the children, and the audience. The program was proceeding pretty well until the final song. This was the time a row of young children stood in front of the rest of the group holding big posters while awaiting their turn to reveal each card. One youngster was enjoying herself, bouncing along to the music, when she realized everyone was watching her and giggling. She dropped her card and they laughed. She picked it up and danced even harder, dropping her card again. Suddenly it was time for the children to turn their cards around.  At the director’s signal, the children turned their card over to spell the title of the program, only her card, the M, was upside down. Some laughed but then came the applause. The children had spelled CHRIST WAS LOVE.

As messed up, off the mark and downright mean as our world has gotten, Christmas continues to remind us that no one can love without giving—even God. “God so loved the world,” the familiar verse says, “that He gave His only Son that we might have eternal life.” Dr. Harris gave his all to God and the church. He died on a beautiful early Sunday morning in January 1975, as he jogged around the high school track, preparing his mind, body, and soul to preach of God’s love gift that day. His memorial service became a true spiritual and church-wide homecoming as hundreds of us returned to say thank you to God for giving us the gift of James Gordon Harris.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Love gives the best. And let’s experience the love and power of God together. 

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This was written for the Center for Congregational Ethics, an on-line resource for pastors and lay-leaders. This brief devotional outline was based on Psalm 76; Isaiah 60:17-22; and Ephesians 4:25-5:2, from the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C, for November 14, 2022. It is suggested that you read each passage first, as you reflect on the focus verses. 

I am always interested in reading the devotional selections on my birthday, which is today, November 14, most likely to see what special word from God I might discern. But if I’m not careful, it can become an exercise of reading what I want to read, to get the special message I want to hear. Not that different from a fortune cookie or horoscope. It can become fatalism wrapped up as a birthday present, tied with a bow of self-centeredness. Words matter.

Psalm 76 points to judgment and salvation in the power of God. God establishes justice. Everyone, from any life circumstance, will one day stand in awe of the Lord. Verse 11 declares the cautionary word: Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them. 

Isaiah 60:17-22 points to hope and salvation in the promise of peace. The world is made whole as justice and righteousness transform the people of God. Verse 22 admonishes us to be patient: I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.

Ephesians 4:25-5:2 points to conduct and salvation in our daily relationships. Paul’s guidelines for living just and righteous lives, everywhere every day, empower the witness of the church, one person at a time. Verse 5:1 presents the imperative, Be imitators of God, therefore…

My words matter. I found a simple prayer that often helps me: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord. (Psalm 19:14)

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Our words matter. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Bro. Darryl

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I have been to a great many Baptist meetings this year, including in-person and by zoom. Last November, at our Tulsa Metro Baptist Network (TMBN) annual meeting, when I was again elected to serve as the Clerk/Secretary of the Association, I reported that I would serve one more year.  I desire less meetings. Tulsa Baptists have been in the middle of an intense self-examination as a network of churches, and I wanted to finish my commitment to that process. At this year’s meeting on November 1, most of the findings were presented and well received. I would like to share with you some of the framework of the efforts.

In church leadership circles the question is often asked: If your church closed today, would anyone in the neighborhood notice?  A more positive question that we addressed was: If the churches of today were to invent an association, what would it look like? We have been working on this “simple” topic for two years now, led by a national church development group in partnership with a half-dozen similarly sized associations from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Washington. We’ve redefined who we are: We are a network of leaders helping one another fuel the mission of the local church. A key discovery was found in the personal pain and conflict many of our congregations, and their key leaders, are facing. Healthy churches require healthy pastoral leadership. Our group outlined an overall vision and strategy: Encouraging Leaders; Forging Partnerships; and Planting, Replanting and Strengthening Churches. To this purpose, we have organized the work of the Network into three working teams: a Church Health team, a Leader Care and Development team, and a Church Planting team. This is a work in progress and is being refined as we go forward. 

I want to personally thank Dr. Charles Cruce, Missions Director, and the Officers and Administrative Leaders of the Tulsa Metro Baptist Association for allowing me to be a part of this reshaping effort. At the annual meeting, I was recognized for over 40 years as the TMBN Secretary with a plaque and a gift certificate for Dorothy and I to spend a few days in Branson. I think they are suggesting the time away may help us model a healthy relationship.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Model healthy. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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