Today I had the honor and pleasure of accompanying my friend, Anthony Hodge, while we took food to many elderly and sick people in his home town. Anthony is the sole force behind Finding the Lost Sheep. His is a story of God’s direct hand of intervention in a life going down the drain. I recommend you look into Anthony’s life if you want to see a man dedicated to God’s call above all else.
While we were there, another great friend, Jon, also came to help. I asked him what he thought of the current Today’s Word studies about Christmas. I should know better than to ask a thoughtful reader such a question. He smiled and told me, “Sometimes you make us feel like we are so stupid. It’s almost as if you are saying, “Hey, Christians are really ignorant. They need to get straight about all this, like me.” He smiled again. ”Maybe the time to talk about Christmas is June, when we aren’t going to feel like everything we are doing has just been ripped out from under us.”
Of course, I told Jon that making people feel like they are stupid was NEVER my intention. The only thing I wanted to do was explain that the bigger picture of the birth is tied to God’s whole festival plan. If we miss that, we shortchange ourselves.
But Jon was right. Sometimes I do push a little too hard. Sometimes I’m sure you might feel like you just got run over by a steamroller. This is not what I want. I believe in gently moving toward the Hebraic perspective. But sometimes that gentle movement is like stepping off a cliff. I’m sorry. I certainly don’t want any reader to feel as though I am making less of his or her true devotion to the Lord. After all, you are all here because you want to serve Him and you love Him. But sometimes it’s painful.
I promise to try to be a more sensitive writer. Believe me, I know how painful this can be. Unless you grew up orthodox Jewish, you probably went through the same jarring revelation. My friend Bob has helped me a lot with this. But sometimes it hurts. Sometimes I want to say, “So what. Why can’t it just be the way I heard it in Sunday School?” But you know, in the end I want to know the truth. Just like you, I have been in the dark for a long time. I want open eyes faith. But sometimes I just get too enthusiastic. I’ll try to restrain myself. And I absolutely don’t think anyone who is learning is stupid.
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