Boiling Point

At 211 degrees Fahrenheit, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils.

That simple idea is at the heart of a skinny little book I came across last week. A friend mentioned that 212: The Extra Degree had a real impact on Saints QB Drew Brees. So I ordered it from Amazon and was surprised that it's quite small and only 77 pages long. But it makes a powerful point.

If just 1 degree makes the difference between hot and boiling, I wonder how many other areas life are won or lost, achieved or failed, advanced or set back by one more tiny degree of effort? Author Samuel L. Parker goes on to document all the amazing victories and accomplishments that made a huge difference, and yet were determined by a mere stroke, or one more attempt.

I've taken the book's advice and I'm going to begin asking important questions even during Christmas. Who are the people who could use one extra 15 minutes of encouragement? What are the issues that could benefit from an extra 10 minutes of prayer? What are the victories that might well be won with one more dollar, one more kind word, one more act of kindness, one more determined nudge?

If you're hoping for a White Christmas, I hope you get one. As for me, I'm hoping for a Christmas that cooks: boiling hot. Selah.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I'll be offline for two weeks to recharge and renew. I will return on January 5 with "The Top 10 Questions People Ask Pastors." Hint: "Why do bad things happen to good people," is not in the top ten. I hope the Big Questions and the useful answers will be helpful in 2011.

Oh, Christmas Tree! The Backstory

Everybody knows that the Christmas tree can be traced back to the Druids* in Great Britain, right? The Druids used mistletoe and holly to celebrate their Winter Solstice, and the faithful evergreen seemed to hint of eternity to them. Even more discerning people may recall that evergreen branches were object lessons of eternal life as long ago as the Pharaohs.

But do you know how the Christmas tree tradition crossed the Atlantic from Europe to arrive in the American Colonies? Some say Hessian soldiers brought the custom with them from Germany when they came over to fight in the American Revolution. It is suggested that Christmas trees became popular in Germany through the example of Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation! But as America became established as a nation, many Christians resented all the tawdry drinking games and bawdy revelry associated with Christmas, so the holiday was banned in many places in these United States! That's right: Christmas was banned by Christian churches!

Anyway, historians say that Christmas trees never really took off here in America until just before the War Between the States. President Franklin Pierce set up a tree in the White House in 1856. In 1861 a farmer named Mark Carr brought two sled loads of evergreens into New York City. They sold like hotcakes! And so, the tradition of Christmas and evergreens began to spread across the land. The Christmas tree industry estimates that by 1900, one in five Americans had a Christmas tree. Twenty years later, they were nearly universal in the USA.

Of course, Christmas trees have no place in the story of Christ's birth. Some would suggest the form of a tree is reminiscent of the cross of Jesus Christ, but the silver, tinsel and bright lights would make that something of a stretch. Perhaps the most theological meaning we can assign to our Christmas trees today is that they remind of the Tree of Life that once stood in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve sinned, the tree was removed to protect them from having to live forever in a miserable, sinful condition.

Ministry Opportunity: bring up the history of the Christmas tree while you're visiting with friends and relatives around tables laden with holiday food. Ask them if they would agree that decorated evergreens might be reminiscent of the Tree of Life in Eden. Ask if they know why that tree was removed from the Garden.

If they're stumped, you have a wonderful opportunity to talk about how baby Jesus grew up to be the Messiah who died for our sins.

Selah.

*The Druids were sorcerors who lived in Britain and, apparently, opposed the coming of Christianity into the area we now call Ireland.

Defining Love without a Greek Dictionary

Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel. Sometimes we are. No, we'd never deny that we believe in Jesus or argue that the cross is not enough. But when skeptical friends and co-workers question the love of God because of one tragic crisis or another, sometimes we just let their questions slide. We nod sympathetically as though the answer is indeed hard to find. But it's not.

I John 3:16 instructs us, "This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us." When God decided to act out his love and make a course correction in mankind's mindless rush to destruction, he intervened by sending his son to die on the cross. That was the ultimate expression of love and was, in addition, the only divine adjustment that would be required. The power of the cross is still working its way through the Earth, one life at a time.

After Hurricane Katrina reduced the Gulf Coast to third world status, some rolled their eyes and asked "Where is God?" God must have been many places saving lives in a cataclysm that destroyed so many and yet killed so very few. But he was surely evident in the tens of thousands of Christians, churches and agencies that engulfed the area for years to come, cleaning up rubble, rebuilding houses, encouraging men and women. And he is surely ministering now through all the new churches springing up in the area, led by prophets and pastors who have relocated from more comfortable regions to lift up the cross in New Orleans.

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees has been a huge source of inspiration to people working hard to reassemble their lives along the Gulf Coast. I would even venture to say that God is evident in that. In his new book, Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity, Brees writes that God called him and his wife to that area for this very time. Think about it.

We sometimes pray as though God is obligated to prove his love every few minutes by rescuing us from our sinful choices, our difficult days, every unpleasant shadow that falls across your pathway or mine. Think again. Sometimes God's love is made evident by the good things that result in our lives from the hardships we overcome through faith.

Let's be careful not to suggest an attitude towards God, "Thanks for the cross. But what have you done for me lately?" The cross is still doing great things. And let's not forget the rest of that statement from 1 John 3:16. "And we must in turn give ours lives for our fellow Christians." Whenever I find myself wondering what love requires, I don't need to look for a dictionary- not even a Greek lexicon. Love is Jesus dying on the cross, and the rest of us doing the same for our friends.

Selah.