Looking Past Ourselves

Well, it's the holiday season and it's that time of year where we think about family and friends, exchanging presents and eating really good food, right? It's so easy to get caught up in the frenzy of what we encounter each year, with all the parties we're invited to, all the relatives we have to divide our time between so we can keep everyone happy (or maybe that's just my family?), all the cards to send out, all the presents to buy... it's crazy! But then there's the Great Commission. The command to deny our self, pick-up our cross and follow Jesus. And there's that thing about caring for orphans and widows in their distress... the list could go on and on. Bottom line is this... we're told to do these things all the time 24/7, 365 (or 366 on leap year), all the time. We're not suppose to take a break during the holiday's and put ourselves on "spiritual cruise control" until the New Year (when we make all of those awesome resolutions that last the first week or two, LOL!). We're suppose to continue right through the holidays. As a matter of fact, we should probably step it up during the holidays. This is the time of year where depression is at the highest level and the suicide rate is at it's peak. People are hurting and people are searching for the solution to life's problems. And that's why we as true "followers of Christ' need to be on point and out there where the people are. Not just with our families, but out among the lost. So, why not start thinking outside the box? I'm not saying that we should abandon all of our holiday traditions, no! But why not start showing our children that the holidays don't need to about us but it should also be about others. About 12 years ago a friend of mine in Oklahoma told me that he would take his teenage sons to a homeless shelter to feed the homeless every Thanksgiving so that they could see that there were people who were hurting. This friend was very well off and lived extravagantly. He was very blessed financially. But he didn't want his sons growing up disillusioned to the fact that 'not everybody' was as blessed as them. As I listened to him I thought, "what a good concept." So 12 years ago we started doing things during the holidays to reach out to people outside of our family... and we 'always' minister with the kids. We feel it's an important tradition to incorporate into their lives, and they love it. They look forward to it every year.

One thing we started doing at our church, several years back, was a Thanksgiving Outreach. It started out where we would prepare meals and serve dinner at the church to people who didn't have families to enjoy Thanksgiving with. Then we stepped it up and started preparing meals and delivering them to people who were staying in extended stay hotels in our city. I don't know how it is where you live but here in Atlanta there is so much drug activity, prostitution, crime... you name it, and it's happening in these hotels. These people need Jesus! The response the people have given us has been amazing. People are so receptive to us. We give them food, clothing, children's toys, Bibles and we pray with as many people that let us. We've prayed with people to receive Christ, we've prayed with people who've needed healing in their bodies, we've prayed and ministered to people with all kinds of issues. For the last 4 years we've been doing this outreach and what started out small has grown into something bigger than we ever imagined. We had over 250 volunteers show up today (on Thanksgiving morning) and we handed out over 500 meals that our volunteers cooked at home and brought in. And we were still able to do all this AND spend time at home with our families eating, watching football and goofing off. I think that's the thing... we can minister to others AND do stuff with our families. It doesn't have to be either or... it can be both. I know I'm kinda on a rant but I'm just trying to encourage you to not go into a "holiday coma" and just pass by the opportunity to be Jesus' hands and feet this holiday season. He wants to use all of us who follow Him to reach a world that truly needs Him NOW. But the first step is "Looking Past Ourselves."

Love You Guys!

Jim