When I was a child, my dad was a pastor. Our first few ministries were in very small churches imbedded deep in the countryside of Mississippi. We actually lived 30 miles down a dirt road until I was in the 3rd grade and our nearest neighbor was over 3 miles away. Needless to say, having a HUGE imagination served me well during those years. When the church was putting fresh rock down on the gravel parking lot…it wasn’t just a pile of rocks, but Mt. Everest that was filled with snowdrifts and dangerous clefts. My twin brother and I could play for hours fighting against the elements of that cold mountain in our quest to the top. Well, that was until it all got spread out and had to become regular gravel again. And the nearest neighbor I mentioned, well, he was the local junk dealer. What’s that old saying, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”? Well that was exactly what the junkyard was for me. One adventure after another just waiting to be discovered, or in my case, “produced” among us children. In the long, hot Mississippi summer months, you never knew what lie ahead in that place when our imaginations were turned loose. The truth is, our imaginations were our greatest toys. There was nothing that we couldn’t dream up and create into a magnificent adventure. Our minds saw no boundaries when we got lost in the junkyard, and only the setting of the sun, or sometimes snack time, brought that day’s quest to an end. But we’d be back to live out another adventure into our imaginations. Trust me.
We moved away from that 30 mile long dirt road and my long, lazy summer days turned into a busy schedule filled with whatever I had chosen to turn my focus too. Who had time to imagine grand adventures with life staring you in the face, right? And yet…and this can only be a God thing, mine never seemed to leave or be squelched like so many imaginations of friends and acquaintances. Maybe it was all the reading my mom and dad made us do, or my great literature and drama teachers that kept it alive in me. Personally, I think it was the Lord and His calling on my life to do creative arts ministry. And that leads me to IMAGINE CHRISTMAS.
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about the adventure that we’re planning for our church and our community this Christmas. Ok, I know the word “Imagine” makes some folks nervous. Scripture cannot be changed. It is God breathed, the words of God the Father and God the Son written down on paper. There is no argument there. But God in His perfect plan chose not to write down every moment of every day of every story in the Bible. And that leaves a little room for the imagination. He did create and gift us with our imaginations, right? He is the Creator and therefore gave us creativity. Ever let yourself “imagine” about the parts not recorded from scripture? Let’s do that just for a second with the Christmas story.
This story is over 2000 years old. And yet every year, every church in America and many around the world, pause to revisit the story. Why? Timeless? Because it is Christmas and that’s the time we can ponder on the Christ-child? I honestly have no answer to this question, but I know that people search for a place, theatre, church, auditorium, etc., to go and see a “Christmas pageant”. Even Charlie Brown produced the Christmas story. This is a favorite place for me to sit and imagine in scripture. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a “host” of heavenly beings fill the sky in the darkest night before. Just how crowded was the little town of Bethlehem when Joseph was looking for a place for Mary’s baby to be born – SOON. Think back even before that…what must it have been like in Heaven the day the angels found out that The Son was going to become a human – fully God and fully man. Could there have been emotion…surprise…maybe even shock! Why would He do it? How could He do it? What was the purpose? Why not be royalty instead of a lowly carpenter? Why a young girl chosen as His mother? What if Mary had said no? She did have a choice, right? What if Joseph, a man of good reputation, decided to not act like it? I could go on and on. It captivates my mind to let myself ponder on the parts not written down. Not to change it, but to envision it. Can you close your eyes and envision His sweet, round face? God zipped up in the skin of a baby. All-powerful, All-Mighty God helpless and needing an imperfect human to care for his every need. That is mind boogling.
I am inviting you to open your mind and imagination and to take a journey with us this Christmas. To “Imagine Christmas” like you may never have before. You just might discover something about this old, old story that will breathe new life in you this Christmas. You just might be changed by a new application that you can pull from this story heard and told so many times.
We’re launching this blog site as a way to begin your imagination journey. We are going to fill it with hints about what you’ll see on December 13th and 14th. We want to allow you to begin your experience of Christmas early, so that when you come to enjoy the event, your heart and mind will be ready to experience this timeless story in a whole new way. We’ll show you the behind-the-scenes of everything we’re already working on for our Imagine Christmas Event. And we’ve already begun to pray that God will awaken your senses and fill you with excitement for the story of God’s plan to redeem us back unto Himself. It started in Heaven and journeyed down to man. God’s perfect plan in the flesh!
Imagine that…
We moved away from that 30 mile long dirt road and my long, lazy summer days turned into a busy schedule filled with whatever I had chosen to turn my focus too. Who had time to imagine grand adventures with life staring you in the face, right? And yet…and this can only be a God thing, mine never seemed to leave or be squelched like so many imaginations of friends and acquaintances. Maybe it was all the reading my mom and dad made us do, or my great literature and drama teachers that kept it alive in me. Personally, I think it was the Lord and His calling on my life to do creative arts ministry. And that leads me to IMAGINE CHRISTMAS.
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about the adventure that we’re planning for our church and our community this Christmas. Ok, I know the word “Imagine” makes some folks nervous. Scripture cannot be changed. It is God breathed, the words of God the Father and God the Son written down on paper. There is no argument there. But God in His perfect plan chose not to write down every moment of every day of every story in the Bible. And that leaves a little room for the imagination. He did create and gift us with our imaginations, right? He is the Creator and therefore gave us creativity. Ever let yourself “imagine” about the parts not recorded from scripture? Let’s do that just for a second with the Christmas story.
This story is over 2000 years old. And yet every year, every church in America and many around the world, pause to revisit the story. Why? Timeless? Because it is Christmas and that’s the time we can ponder on the Christ-child? I honestly have no answer to this question, but I know that people search for a place, theatre, church, auditorium, etc., to go and see a “Christmas pageant”. Even Charlie Brown produced the Christmas story. This is a favorite place for me to sit and imagine in scripture. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a “host” of heavenly beings fill the sky in the darkest night before. Just how crowded was the little town of Bethlehem when Joseph was looking for a place for Mary’s baby to be born – SOON. Think back even before that…what must it have been like in Heaven the day the angels found out that The Son was going to become a human – fully God and fully man. Could there have been emotion…surprise…maybe even shock! Why would He do it? How could He do it? What was the purpose? Why not be royalty instead of a lowly carpenter? Why a young girl chosen as His mother? What if Mary had said no? She did have a choice, right? What if Joseph, a man of good reputation, decided to not act like it? I could go on and on. It captivates my mind to let myself ponder on the parts not written down. Not to change it, but to envision it. Can you close your eyes and envision His sweet, round face? God zipped up in the skin of a baby. All-powerful, All-Mighty God helpless and needing an imperfect human to care for his every need. That is mind boogling.
I am inviting you to open your mind and imagination and to take a journey with us this Christmas. To “Imagine Christmas” like you may never have before. You just might discover something about this old, old story that will breathe new life in you this Christmas. You just might be changed by a new application that you can pull from this story heard and told so many times.
We’re launching this blog site as a way to begin your imagination journey. We are going to fill it with hints about what you’ll see on December 13th and 14th. We want to allow you to begin your experience of Christmas early, so that when you come to enjoy the event, your heart and mind will be ready to experience this timeless story in a whole new way. We’ll show you the behind-the-scenes of everything we’re already working on for our Imagine Christmas Event. And we’ve already begun to pray that God will awaken your senses and fill you with excitement for the story of God’s plan to redeem us back unto Himself. It started in Heaven and journeyed down to man. God’s perfect plan in the flesh!
Imagine that…
1 comment:
What a great introduction! This gives us lots to ponder...and anticipate as we prepare. I'm so excited...keep em coming!
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