Merry Christmas from the Crane Clan!

God is Speaking!

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s have become a great festival time in our culture. It is probably the majority of the people’s favorite time of the year, but it is also the time of year when life moves faster, stress is greater, and the chaos of the season can easily drown out the voice of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. It is this time of year, more than any other, that we need to stop and hear God speaking.

Our desire in Christmas is to be reminded that from the very beginning of time, all our failures and fears were on the heart of God as He sent His only Son to bring us hope and confidence necessary to live life to the fullest. The goal in these few minutes is to pause and listen to the voice of God Speaking.

We truly appreciate your reading of this blog. May you be blessed through all the hard work and dedication it takes to pull it off. May each of us hear God speaking in our lives through a child born in a manger and still working in our lives today.

You know I Love ya, Don

Christmas is a time for living!!!

Christmas is a time for Love; a time for Joy and Peace;
A time to trim the Christmas Tree and a time to stuff the geese.
It's a time when we can come together, however far or near;
To shed a little hope into a world of sorrow and fear.

Yet Christmas could be all year 'round, if only we would try
To gently wipe an old man's brow or soothe a baby's cry.
If we could smile throughout the year as we do on Christmas Day;
Just think what happiness we'd shed along life's weary way.

To give a gift of Hope to one who otherwise has none;
To be a Friend to somebody whom everyone else has shun.
To be Forgiving of our faults, and of our sisters and our brothers;
To Live in Peace and Harmony with ourselves and with each other.

Ah, don't you see that Christmas is more than opening up the gifts;
It's more than singing Christmas Carols and rolling in big snow drifts.
It's a feeling that can stay with you throughout each day, all year;
And all it takes is a loving heart.....and a sensitive little tear...

This poem was taken from http://www.diskworks.com/poem.html

Merry Christmas! Don

"Wait, Payton is about to throw the Ball!"

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. -Revelation 1:4 (NRSV)

I love to watch Colts football. I am not sure why, because I have never been too much of a sports fan. I was always in the band. We would have more fun anyway. So, here I am, ministering in Indiana and a Colts fan. It is fun to watch even when we loose. (Which seems too often this season...) So, I wonder, "Why?" What is the attraction to this rough game.

I think for me it was Tony Dungy that started it off. I admired his faith and willingness to stand firm for what he believed. That continues with most of the players such as Payton Manning and for Coach Cauldwell. I also see a great deal of community that is united in a team that belongs to our home. That is also good.

I also see a great deal of waste and deep passion without much gain. There are so many Christians that give everything to following the Colts, yet when it comes to church attendance, sacrificial giving, or even supporting of one's neighbors, there is to be no competition with their die hard support to the Colts. Which makes me wonder, "If Jesus returned while Payton was throwing the ball for a touchdown, how many Christians would say, 'wait, he is about to throw the ball'!"

The Colt's players are good guys. I have a tendency to think most people are good people that have strayed from the God that loves them. Yet, not a person on this planet is eternal like Jesus. We forget to whom a Christ-Followers loyalties should rest. As our scriptures states, "He was, He is, and He always will be."

F. Richard Garland writes:

In the greeting above lies a reminder that God is eternal. In this greeting is a reminder that harmony has been restored between God and humanity through Christ, a reminder that God remains steadfast even in the midst of life's most trying and terrible days.

So what does this have to do with Christmas? It is tempting to make Christmas into a warm fuzzy tale about a baby born in a humble stable, surrounded by adoring witnesses singing songs of praise under a starlit sky. But this passage from Revelation reminds us of who this child will grow to be, of where his birth will ultimately lead — a glimpse into the mystery of God's purpose at Christmas.

This child will bear faithful and reliable witness to God's self-giving love — good news for a weary world. This child will make kings and rulers tremble and bring nations and empires to their knees!

At the core of Christmas is the One who is the "Alpha and the Omega," the beginning and the end. The God "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" is about to come and live among us. (See John 1:14.)

So, which are you...not just in football, but what is it that is taking your eyes of your true future. We are discussing how to rediscover the joy in Christmas in our 2010 Advent sermon series. One of the sure means to rediscover the joy is to keep your EYES (thoughts, actions, and desires) on the baby that was willing to grow-up and die and then return. He was willing to come and is going to come again! As for me and my house, I don't care who is going to throw the ball, sing the best oratorio, or even giving the best gift...Jesus has come and will come again...I am waiting and ready!

You know I love ya, Don