Take Christ out of Christmas.

Christmas has passed for another year. On Sunday I went to Church and our Pastor preached a Sermon his wife wrote. It was hard for him you could see, but he wanted to remind us again this year that indeed Christmas is only beginning not ending.

He said "Take Christ out of Christmas", a very bold statement if taken as written here. However what he means is take the Birth and put it in our everyday lives. Don’t just celebrate an infants birth and forget about it, but take that baby Jesus and place him in everything we do everyday.

At Christmas we all see the folks who only come once or twice a year. Sometimes we can begrudge those folks as they come in sit down take up the pews and we never see them again. However, we need to celebrate that they still hold something. We do indeed see them even if it is once or twice a year.

On the other hand how often do we greet the folks who are there everyday. How often do we reach out to the faces we see each day outside of the Church and even inside?

These are some of the meaning in "Take Christ out of Christmas". It can be hard to keep Christ in our lives each and everyday and in everything we do. We let the world consume us and sometimes we only thing of Christ when in Church and on special occasions.

This Sermon was a reminder that we put God first before all else less we forget why we are here.

Take Christ out of Christmas and put him in our lives first!

How many times do we need to learn the same lesson?

Today I had to yet again learn. It wasn’t easy to hear it and yet, I was in need of it. I speak of Mathew 18:15. I was quick to be offended at another and speak of the offense yet it took another to show me that as long as I spoke of it and did not go to tha brother I was as guilty.

That lesson i thought I had learned some time ago, but today showed me it is not so. How quick we can be to be offended by a brother and not confront as Mathew 18 says we need to, but then go and speak to others and it has an ugly name. That name being gossip!
May the Lord forgive me yet again, and may I learn to se what is before me before being offended.

Closing Church on Christmas day!

What could I say that has not been said around the net by better thinkers than I? Should my Church have decided to close on Christmas day, I would no longer be able to attend there, it's that simple for me. It is the Church of my childhood, my grandfather played Santa’s arriving with his horse and sleigh in my youth.

Yet, if they were to ever close their doors on the day we celebrate Christ’s birth it would end my time there. Just like that. I love my Church I give my time freely for any talents I have and ask for nothing in return. I have been a Youth Pastor there, a Sunday school teacher, and now I manage the web site, and put our Sermons on-line. It is the least I can do for my Church family.

However, the idea to close on Christmas Sunday never even came up. It is not something our family of God could even consider. Would it be nice to spend the day with family, yes it would. And we will. My Church family is my family. What are we without our brothers and sisters in Christ?

A friend of mine is leaving his Church now. They will not be open on Christ’s birthday. He cannot understand and he did not get a voice. The Church leaders simply sent out a bulletin excluding Sunday Service, but stated that with three, three mind you, Christmas eve services and one Christmas eve eve service that the need has been fulfilled! So what did his Church just do to him?

He is a strong believer in Christ and lives a Christ filled life. Yet his Church family just let him down. Can we measure the damage done to him and his family? He is hurt that he was not even given a voice in the decision to close on Christmas day. His Church happens to be one on the growing trend.

They have grown from a seed Church to one of the largest in the Northeast in over a year. They grow each and everyday. His Pastor even went out and spoke at that Mega Church in Texas recently. We suspect that has something to do with not being open for business on Sunday.

My Church is an intercity Church and being such it is imperative we are open on Sunday, especially Christ’s birthday. We have a food pantry and other services. Imagine if we closed our doors Sunday. Opps sorry no food to hand out we decided to close our doors on this Lords day come back another day. Today you can starve! Imagine. Shame on the Churches who will close.

Pray for those Churches and congregations. Pray that they learn why they are in business in the fist place as it would appear they have lost their way.

Thinking about Mission work...

Following on the heels of my earlier post, I have been thinking about where my desire to do mission work comes from. To be perfectly honest there are folks in my Church going and perhaps that is what is prompting me, or at least waking up old memories.

Some years back while in the Military, I wont say when, makes me feel old, but it is around 10 years ago maybe 15, I had an opportunity to serve in Honduras. My duty was in a Combat engineer unit, and as such we did many jobs. This mission was unique in that we were building School houses in the hills in Honduras.

This was an exciting opportunity as we arranged to have the materials delivered to the site and build these buildings. The materials were mostly local as in coming from within the country, from the concrete for the foundation to the clay roof tiles. We would pour the foundations, stack the cinder blocks for walls frame the roof, and tile.

We had other crews working on building desks for the classroom. Sometimes there was other work, such as either moving or creating new latrines for the village and new wells.

The villages were rather poor in that they didn’t have much. Most homes didn’t have a floor they were bare dirt floors inside. One particular village had a community laundry area, it was a concrete contraption, the woman would bring the laundry there and beat it against the concrete and rinse then bring home to hang dry.

In another village the kids had a game with the tarantula’s, they would find the hole in the ground and pour water inside till the creature popped out, then they would basically use it as a soccer ball, quite interesting, but not so good for the creature! Out of nowhere kids would arrive selling us cold cola. I have no idea where the cola came from.

There were many missionaries there around the area anyway. Sometimes we saw them come to the villages and give shots, pass out clothes and other items. we did not interact with them we had our mission to do and were clearly told to let them be and not intermingle.

My job was Operations so mostly I was responsible to manage the various construction sites, and get the equipment and materials to the sites. That allowed me to actually get to the sites quite often, and I would tour each site we were doing. I would have a driver take me from site to site and would have to assess the needs, do we have enough material, are we on target to get the work done, so on and so on. it was a monumental task and we had many resources available to us.

I was struck by the people. That they had little but made much of the little they had. They recycled everything, nothing going to scrap. Any piece of brick or metal they snapped up and used, nothing being wasted. They were very resourceful and most of them were Christians. Missionaries have been visiting them for many many years and they all seemed to attend Catholic services. Their faith in God was strong.

At the time I had no desire to witness to them I had a job to do, and I didn’t have much time to meet with the villagers. My interaction was mostly with the liaisons for the villagers they were very practical people and their time was short. The time I spent with them was all business as we had many villages to support. I never asked why we were doing this, or why the US was building Schools in the back hills of Honduras. It was for Higher ups to worry about.

When my tour was over I remember feeling that I was leaving something behind. these people lived a simpler life, had a strong faith in God and family. They supported one another, when someone didn’t have they shared what they had. it was a communal type life in the villages.

Later years I have always looked back on that experience and know it was something special. even when I was there I knew I was part of something, and always said that some day I would be back but not as a Military person but as a missionary as they were doing the hard part. they were doing the day to day dirty work.

At the Military base where we spent each night we did have some Peace Corp folks stay with us from time to time. They were passing through though they did not sty on the base long. They were coming in on the planes at the base I think and then heading out to do their work. They all had the same look on their faces that was a look of great anticipation. They would be excited and on edge and ready to get to business. They all had a look like they were doing something they thoroughly enjoyed. There seemed to a tension between the Peace Corps folks and the Military folks.

Perhaps this is what sticks in my mind. Those folks who were coming there willingly to volunteer their time. Low pay if any, bad accommodations, but they didn’t seem to mind, they even seemed to cherish it. here we were on a base with every amenity modern life can provide, hot showers, three solid meals a day, yet the missionaries seemed happy with one meal a day and sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag. I couldn’t see why they were so happy about that.

Today I can see it I see their secret and know why they were happy. They we serving God and pleasing him. Their own pleasure and comfort was not an issue, and was even a distraction from their purpose. I knew then I wanted something they had.

So perhaps that is what drives me today. Remembering what they had and the work they were doing. This will take some more praying to see if God is leading me to this or something I desire.

Wrestling with this....

For about a month now, something has been weighing heavily on my mind. I have to ask if this is something I am wanting to do or am I being called to do this.

What I am talking about is mission work. Maybe it is a culmination of events that and is simply something I am focusing on, so in light of it I am doing some research and thinking and mostly praying.

I feel compelled to go on a mission. Should I go, I then have to decide how to go and where to go. Many people go to Africa or Mexico and other places; my feeling is to go to Africa. Why is the big question?

Am I going to gratify some need for myself or would I be going to actually do something. If I am going to actually do something what is that something. is it to spread the word of the gospel or fulfill some other need. Then there is the issue of family. I do not want ot go alone, i mean I can it is not a problem for me to go alone, there is no fear for myself.

My family is important to me and I want my son to go with me. Yes my wife as well, but I do not think she would go, nor would she be willing to let our son without her meaning my five year old would not be able to go unless my wife went.

There are family missions I ran across while doing some looking. Perhaps I can present this to my wife in such a way, as she will see that it would be something we can do as a family. Start off slowly and see how it proceeds from there. I would like to take a two-week trip and see what there is to it. Instead of going to Disney or some other tourist trap, I would rather do something with lasting impact. Change some lives for the better, share what limited skills I may have.

This is a new idea for me, as I have always believed in serving locally. there are local needs as well as global needs. Yes it would be exciting to go to Africa and serve there fore for a time, feed some people, help them understand Gods word. However the need is just as great right here in our own front yard.

This will take some serious praying to know Gods will.

Local Theatre...

Sunday I took my family to a local production of Annie. The Theater is an old one in Cohoes and is currently run by the production company C-R Productions

This was great show! They did a fantastic job and i was quite impressed with the performances. Maybe I am biased who knows. Last year Jim Charles gave me some voice lessons so I could try to improve my singing in my local Church choir.

Both Jim and Tony have been transforming the Music Hall into something worth going to. The team has a great line up of productions to come, so it looks like I will be spending more time there.

What more can be said.

This is a follow up on the Recruiting post earlier. What some people would have you believe about recruits vs. reality is a far cry from one another.

Many years back in the local paper an uncle of mine was upset by a letter to the editor feature. It talked even then about the low quality of soldiers entering the Military. he rebuked the writer and his column was in the paper the following week. that same week he received a phone call from our local Congressman commending him for his effort.

Lets think for a moment if we did not have an all-volunteer Army, what then? The draft people. And we know how fair and balanced that is! Lets celebrate the fact that we do have people who are willing to volunteer to defend this country. That is a honorable thing.

Official Debunks Myths About Military Recruits

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2005 – Recruits entering the military are head and shoulders above their contemporaries, and myths that imply otherwise reflect the Vietnam era, not today, a top Pentagon official told the American Forces Press Service.

"They are so clearly a cut above America," Bill Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, said of today's recruits.

Carr bristles when he hears unfounded charges that the men and women entering the military are less educated, less affluent or less likely than other 18- to 24-year-olds to have alternatives to military service. Rather, a combination of volunteerism and commitment to service is prompting young people to enlist, Carr said, noting that a measure of shrewdness plays into their decision. "They are planning their future and considering what part we can play in it," he said.

Carr likes to think of himself as a "myth buster," helping break stereotypes he said are flat-out wrong and cheat servicemembers out of the pride they've earned and deserve.

He rattled off examples of those myths and set the record straight for each one.

• Myth 1: Military recruits are less educated and have fewer work alternatives than other young Americans.

In fact, military recruits are far better educated than the general youth population, Carr said. More than 90 percent of recruits have a high school diploma, compared to about 75 percent of the U.S. youth population.

That's an important issue to the military, Carr said, because a traditional high school diploma is the single best indicator of a recruit's stick-to-it-ness and likelihood of successfully adjusting to military service. Recruits with a high school diploma have a 70 percent probability of completing a three-year enlistment versus a 50 percent chance for nongraduates.

The military has exceeded the 90-percent benchmark for recruits with high school diplomas every year since 1983, Carr noted.

• Myth 2: The military tends to attract people with lower aptitudes.

Recruits actually have much higher average aptitudes than the general youth population, Carr said. In fiscal 2005, 67 percent of recruits scored above the 60th percentile on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. The test is designed so that the average young person will score 50 percent, he explained.

But high achievement on the test isn't new, Carr said. Sixty percent of new enlistees have scored at or above the 50 percentile -- the military's benchmark for recruits -- every year since 1985.

• Myth 3: The military attracts a disproportionate number of poor or underprivileged youth.

In reality, military recruits mirror the U.S. population and are solidly middle class, Carr said. He cited a recent Heritage Foundation report that shows most recruits come from middle-class families, rather than poorer or wealthier ones. Patterns in recent years reinforce this trend, showing a slight dip in recruits from lower socioeconomic groups and a slight increase from upper-class groups, Carr said.

• Myth 4: A disproportionate number of recruits come from urban areas.

Inner cities are actually the most underrepresented area among new recruits, Carr said. Both suburban and rural areas are overrepresented, he said.

• Myth 5: The military isn't geographically representative of America.

The southern part of the United States generates the most recruits, 41 percent, but also has the biggest youth population to draw from, 36 percent, Carr said. Twenty-four percent of recruits come from north-central regions, which have 23 percent of the youth population. The west, with 24 percent of the nation's youth, contributes 21 percent of the new enlistees. And the northeast, with 18 percent of the youth population, provides 14 percent of new recruits.

Clearing up misconceptions about military recruits paints a truer picture of the young men and women joining the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, and the capabilities they bring to their respective services, Carr said. It also reinforces what Carr said military leaders have recognized all along: "There's enormous talent in their midst," he said.

Inbox...

This morning opening my email, there were two items in there today. Both from Christian friends, and it hit me. It hit me that we as Christians have a responsibility. Christmas makes that responsibility even more pronounced.

What started me on this, simple, both of the emails were dwelling on the negative side. One was a cartoon whereby a child was sent to the Principles office because he said Christmas in class. The other was a twas the night before Christmas parody.

Should we be passing these negative messages around? Yes, we all know that a School funded by the Government will indeed kick Christ out of the School. We know that many people do not have any idea that Christmas is actually a celebration of the birth of Christ and believe it a celebration of a rotund man in a red suit! These things we already know.

What we need to be passing around is Christ’s message. We need to stop buying into the negativity and move on to the positive and stop passing around parodies and start passing around the true meaning. We are not being Christians if we buy into the negative stuff.

So, I deleted those two emails and passed back two positive messages. As Christians we need to hold each other to task to get the right message out.

I challenge you that whenever you get a negative worldly email disparaging Christmas or Christians that you delete it right away and immediately send those people a positive message of Christ’s love for them.

Be warned though, you may not get friendly messages back from those same people, and there lies the problem. How can a person purporting to be a Christian send those messages disparaging their faith? Problem is we get caught up in the world and are so blinded we can no longer see straight.

Trappings and a comfortable life remove us from our faith. Rebuke those people but do it gently. Remind them that the real message is being diluted and we need to be ever diligent in getting out the message.

Military in the Schools...

This morning I ran across an article via michelle malkin.

This struck me due to my having been an Army Reserve recruiter for four years. My work area was inside the Army Recruiting office. My first assignment was in a Recruiting Station that had four Army recruiters and two reserve recruiters, and one Station Commander.

The way it worked in those days was that you were assigned a mission. You signed for your quarterly mission, and it was an official mission meaning if you failed to achieve your mission that was assigned to you there were repercussions. If you achieved your mission you would get a little star to attach to your recruiting badge. There were rumors we got additional money for each recruit but that was untrue.

Some Schools were very welcoming toward us, while others were very anti Military. The friendly ones would get special services from us, and the ones who weren’t did not. Special Services might mean the Army band performing and things like that. One School only allowed for a "Service Day" whereby all four Service were allowed a classroom and could only give a five-minute spiel about jobs we offered then a Q and A session.

One School the Principle was an office in the Army Reserves so we had an open door policy there, we could come and go as we pleased as long as we checked in, he allowed us to use the guidance office to meet potential recruits. I also was a special teacher for the Careers class at that School. meaning I would come in about once a quarter and be a guest teacher talking about how to fill out resumes and so on. I was not allowed to recruit, but was allowed to wear my uniform and answer any questions asked me directly.

There were varied responses from parents, most were for the Military, but some were not. Some were upset knowing we were talking to their child, but most, were interested in knowing the options that the Military offered. At the time there weren’t any conflicts the US was involved in, and this did make a difference in how we were perceived.

The line "Some opponents of American military recruitment are political naifs who retain the delusion that freedom can be effectively defended with a program of hugs, kisses, and multicultural programming." is great in demonstrating how this country was not founded on pacifism and how it remains so today.

One of the lines I used to give people objecting to my uniform was to tell them "It is because I wear this uniform that you can stand there and insult me, this is why I wear it for you to have that freedom" Most had no idea how to respond to this. Many would resort to irrational arguments at that point.

Yes, we did give away freebies, and yes some were pencils, some were frisbees, badges, patches and many more hand outs. However, rarely was there a Recruiter who was recruiting through unethical means.

We took ethics classes’ monthly usually on a Saturday. If you were suspected of an ethics violation there was an immediate investigation. You were read your rights and arrested on the spot. Once the investigation was over and you were exonerated, you could then go back to recruiting. I wont paint a fantasy picture here, there were recruiters from time to time who were caught at improprieties and action taken.

The overall attitude was one of the highest standards. You sold the Army for what it was; you did not lie about it. You told the prospect to expect hard work, to be in harms way, and uphold the Constitution through bearing Arms and killing if you were ordered to do so. These points were made clear from the very beginning of the recruitment process.

And the quality of the recruit was high as well. These kids are not the dredges of society, as some would have you believe. Most of the recruits are kids with high standards, kids with great academic records. They understand what it means to be in a free country and are willing to do their part in keeping it that way.

Recruiting for me was a mixed bag. I enjoyed the daily activity of recruiting and seeing these young men and woman become better citizens and honorable people. There was a negative side that I was not comfortable with, that negative side being two fold. One the mission standard. If you did not meet your mission you were reprimanded sometimes severely with pay reduction and punishment. The leadership in recruiting was through negative leadership not positive. The other item was sometimes running into hostile people.

On one occasion while on a State University campus, a female student attacked the Army Recruiter who was standing beside me at a recruiting table in the Campus Center. It was an ugly encounter She was violently angry that we were allowed to be there along with all the other Employers that day at an Employment fair. We were banned from Campus for one year. That did not go over well with HQ.

The debate over allowing recruiters on School campuses rages on. The law says to the effect that as long as the School receives federal money recruiters have as much right as any other potential employer to meet with students on campus. Be that campus High School or Collage.

Overall my experience was a positive one and looking back my only regret is that I did not do it longer. I allowed the negative side to consume me and left recruiting to move on to other Military adventures. Maybe talk about some of those another time. One though was very positive and that was building Schools in Honduras. yes, the US Army builds Schools. Ever see that in the press!

Meeting all the kids I met and all the parents of those kids, never once was I shamed to be wearing that uniform. I was proud of what it stood for and was proud to tell others about what it means to wear it.

It goes the same for my Christian faith. I am proud to wear it out there for all to see, and proud for it to be seen and never shamed. I met many Christians while wearing the uniform, and have several whom I still correspond with. Two of them are Military Pastors, and are proud of both uniforms they wear.

For those who feel it shameful to wear a Military uniform, or be a Christian or even to be an American, then I say you aren’t looking in the right places. Stand up and be counted for who you are, and be proud of what you are doing. It may not always feel like you are doing the right thing, but you are. Some will try to tear you down and make you feel less than God intended you to feel, but remember the good works you are doing. Look around and see the fruit that is growing and be proud. There are great things happening out there.