Merry Christmas everyone! By now most that will see this post have read, heard, seen portrayals of the birth of Christ. Heck Charlie Brown and the gang knock it outta the yard in their rendition. A Savior has come! This morning I’m listening to Faith Hill blast out “Baby changes everything”  and as her words pour through me, the words from Luke drench me in the amazing moment of suddenly.

We recall the scene Luke paints beautifully where the census is called. Joseph, with his now very pregnant Mary, trudge their way to the place prophets foretold a Savior, a prince of peace would be born. The town of David, Bethlehem, received the first born SON, the one wrapped in the whatever they could place their hands on and laid him in a place no earthly king would lay. Yet this is our heavenly king!

Meanwhile not too far away a flock of sheep were being cared for by shepherds who were suddenly visited by an angel of the Lord and we are told through Luke that the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. The darkness of the night had to be lit up like nothing they had ever witnessed. The Author of Light who has brought the light of the world is preparing the world to receive HIM.  So it was fitting that the angel would have to calm them down in their fear. Heck yea, can you envision the mundane experienced throughout the days, weeks, years you and your buddies are tending to their flocks and then unexpectedly (suddenly) you are enveloped in total LIGHT. I do wonder if the guys in the fields ever had conversations regarding God. Gosh the thoughts rolling through their being in this moment. The looks at each other, the grabbing of one another out of fear, the unknown, that this abrupt interruption to their night is causing.  But, the angel assures them that there is good news. You can you almost feel the courier of God with hands open, eyes wide open, saying guys, guys, guys, hang on…wait…..listen…shhhh…it’s ok…listen…..The Savior, yes the Messiah (the one who will save) has arrived and you will find him in the next town, in a place where cattle shelter, yes He will be there. Go see! Then:

Suddenly, the angel, the one who has just knocked them to their knees with God’s brilliance, who has briefly calmed em’ is now surrounded by a vast host of others, Luke tells us that the armies of heaven have arrived—praising God and saying…”Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those whom God is pleased. Gang please don’t glaze over this.

The armies of heaven! The armies of heaven! Can it get any brighter? YES YES YES….

There are no words to express, describe, illustrate this scene….then to hear the armies of heaven in unison announce “Glory to God in highest heaven”….I bet their  voices were booming with incredible harmony thus causing the beards, the cloaks of the shepherds to flow in response.

Yes, Faith, a baby changes everything. Especially this baby of Life.  Praying that we allow the suddenly of Jesus’ entrance into our lives to change our everything!

Merry Christmas

we received one of those Evites from Jesus?

you know the ones where we send it out it’s communicating an upcoming party,  some kind of event.. a time to get together in this one came from Jesus his email  (jesus@godheals.iam)

The Evite states clearly the time and place to come. Invited to his home , at his party place, it’s his room with the rooms he’s prepared for all of us and we’re just gonna have a big freaking bash.  yet most of the evites especially if it’s gathered around food, we are asked to bring something, but Jesus says everything is taken care no need to bring food or drink, instead Jesus asks that we bring a gift.

What?! a gift, yea no other explanation no other hints, just bring a gift. What would you bring? Does your mind immediately go to something material? Or what about a poem., a song.,

wait wait the gift is us. for us to be present in the time we are together., to put down the cell phones., maybe even turn the traditional football games off for a bit and be alive in the conversation.

This time of year for some is just not fun with the family dynamic, totally understand my prayer is that you picture yourself in the room with Jesus as he scoops out the dressin’, carves the turkey, plops out the taters with a splash of gravy all the while present with you and us. He desires to be our joy, our gift and our gift to HIm is you!

The non-stop talk, discussion, debate, of the mid-term elections and then the upcoming 2020 elections on all screens is off the charts. Not sure if it’s my aging, maturing, but is the world ultra-sensitive these days. we are growing more and more leery of one another, we don’t trust the motive of the other just because of the label that is self-applied or one that is shoved on us by another group who doesn’t like what we are saying or doing. Are we even listening to each other anymore?

the answer I believe is a resounding no.

I have a chance to sit in with various men each Friday morning at a local coffee shop. The gathering is referred to as Koinonia, which means fellowship or communion. It’s a beautiful time as men of all socio-economic background start to mingle at 07:00 am just welcoming each other and chatting about any and everything in life. The group can be anywhere from 4 to 13 each week, and yes some of the faces are the same each week yet the beauty is the randomness of the others that drop in and out each week. There are no denominations, no agendas just Jesus. The leader, Michael Jordan, (no not the basketball player but just as tall) will typically lower the roar of the conversations by letting everyone know which verse we will chew on for the next 30-45 minutes. The discussion is wide open, with varying views of how we hear God rolling through the scriptures. And Michael does a fabulous job of centering everyone back on point when the conversations start to dart down rabbit holes and pig trails.

on this particular day, along with each Friday we meet, we will have areas of our lives where we would like others to pray. As we were about to wrap up, I felt led to ask others to pray for our leaders, of local, regional and national. I expressed how most of the folks in the elected positions are on the same team on a given Sunday or whatever day they worship through Christ, so how cool it would be that if we could after Sunday not put on the donkey or the elephant and live with each other from the higher relationship of Jesus…that all of us could recognize the higher power of Jesus….all were in agreement, and then Donny leaned over to me and said.

hey bivo….it’s the party of the Lamb!

YES YES YES! Donny has flat out nailed this. What if we came together each day under the banner of party of the Lamb….when asked are you conservative, progressive, liberal, and all the other labels, we would say nope I’m with party of the Lamb! dag gum it…IM in….through HIM we can learn to trust the motive of each other’s hearts, it takes time gang to listen and learn to find common ground the strengthens all.

lets rise together under the RISEN LAMB of GOD, Jesus Christ!

A few weeks ago we had a blast gathering with folks in our home and their families. We ate, laughed, swam, listened to the rolling thunder get closer and closer, ate some more, especially the banana pudding YUMMY! It was a joy to see and hear folks take a breath from laugh join with others that are like hearted and nourish one another. We took the time to huddle everyone under the carport to place an exclamation point on the nourishment.

We set the scene by reminding folks that at some point when the letters in the bible were written that there were not mass copies handed out to everyone in attendance, therefore the desire to listen, retain then share was the way the encouragement in the letters was distributed to others in the area. Man to have been on the scene to see the raised eyebrows of those hearing for the first time how Christ came to fulfill, to set free, that the Old is gone and the new has come through Christ. To hear the kiddos ask their mama’s and daddy’s “what’s the big deal?” “why are ya’ll so enamored with this reading”?

Since we have screens and books to refer, we read the following

Heb 12:1 NIV 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

notice that in almost all translations the hinderance, the encumbrance is along with or joined with sin, giving us the reader a since that we have two things going on here

1. everything that hinders AND
2. the sin that so easily entangles

…yes sometimes the hinderance such as the ”biggies” result in the sin that tangles us up in our daily lives. but what about comparison?…could that be a hinderance…could that be that “something” or “someone” that we need to throw off? Don’t we first have to find out why we even put it on?

in my life the answer is a resounding YES….think of the ways we compare, which is to note the similarity or dissimilarity between someone or something

..what is our motive when we do so?

to make ourselves feel better at the expense of the other? doesn’t that then become the hindrance, the pressure, the stress that we create to be like someone else or wish they were more like us?

our DNA is like no other..Go back for just a moment and read the list of folks referred to in chapter 11…what did they have in common, what was their similarity?

their faith!

yet through their DNA they by faith they beLIeVED. Through some of the craziest circumstances they stood firm in their faith and the world took notice!

Man to be free from feeling less than, inadequate, or even the spirit of superiority that may surface when the hinderance of comparison sneaks in.

we sat and listened to person after person describe areas of their lives where comparison had crept in, the voices of 5 to 14 years old along with 54 to 74 and all ages in between shared. Then as we started to close and ignite our week, we asked “what is the word you would want Jesus to speak over you today?” OH MY GOSH this was powerful, too many to list….what is your word?

What if Together in our homes, at work and in our community we beLIeVED? What if like the great cloud of witnesses before us, we moved toward the positive words jesus continues to speak through us. That we would beLIeVE we have the divinity of God through the Holy Spirit roaring through us? having trouble believing?

then join me in throwing off EVERYTHING that hinders from this love? and when you do so, see where and who God takes you to show a world who HE is in your life.

Say hello to Joann Bivins, my mama for almost 54 years. She first became a mama when my brother Danny was born Oct 15, 1958. Then a mama to me on June 8, 1964. I have waited on purpose before sharing this in order to let the moment i felt on mother’s day completely soak in.

On Mother’s Day we paid a visit to my mama in her new dwelling place, Life Care Center. Sitting beside her, she will at times think she is placing something in your hands. As she did her hand landed in mine. I took this moment to gently rub the underside of my mama’s right hand. The fingers curled from years of diabetes and Parkinson’s still had strength, yet I couldn’t remember the last time I held my mama’s hand. And gang, the more I rubbed, the more I fought back tears, as memories came crashing into my being, memories I haven’t thought of in years. I’ll share a few.

This hand, these hands, once washed and clothed my body, combed my hair. Yes, hands that licked fingers to give spit face baths. These hands that held vocabulary words on maple hill street as I laid in the floor learning from rote how to spell. Hands that cut whole chicken, dipped em in buttermilk, rolled em in flour and then placed in an oily skillet. Hands that served that meal before she ever thought about sitting down. Hands that kept dishes full of m&m’s around the house.

These hands now are curled and yellowed dingy nails, yet they once cupped around her mouth to yell to the top of her lungs GO MICHAEL GO as the baseball that just left the bat from my swing was hurled into sky and over the fence. Those hands would drive me and others to celebrate the victory or console the loss. Hands that just sat and watched as a rugged attempt of a pine box car finished last in the cub scout races. Hands that placed her hand on top of mine while learning to drive stick shift corolla only to see us pop the clutch out to fast and crash the car door on the side of the garage door. It was the hand that calmed her man, my daddy down in the commotion. Hands that washed, folded, placed countless number of clothes in drawers and in baskets and yes one year by the door when this 20 yr old stayed out a bit too late, only to have those same hands set out food for her hungover son.

Mama’s hands were open and wrappin’ around any and every one that her brown eyes locked on to! Hands that would purchase some of largest, bodacious, delicate, intricate, Christmas ornaments. Oh hands that would continually buy all sorts for goodies at the Cracker Barrel store for the 5 grandchildren that called her nanny or nanny b. Hands that would wave in fever pitch as you pulled from their home, hearing her scream BYYYYYYEEEEEEE, walking around to other side still waving and still shouting BYYYYYYYEEEEEEEE……ah those hands

In this state of Parkinson’s, one ever wonders when she is coherent. We didn’t have to wonder long when her great grandchild made her first visit. As I placed Everleigh on her lap, arms and hands did what they knew to do and that is to reach out and hug this child. It was a light in her eyes that lit when as she said Oh Michael she is beautiful!

How, one may wonder? What keeps that engine of hers firing even in this stage of life she is in? LOVE

The driving force of the hands is love gang!

They are hands I forgot that I trust and trusted until I started rubbing hers. I think we forget that we too were infants who needed that caring touch of mama’s and yes daddy’s to love us through life. That today we still need that loving hand. As we become parents we are continually learning to live through the various stages of life where our own kids may forget. Today I remember. I pray you will also.

Thank you mama for loving me like Christ!