Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas! I guess it's merry in America and happy in India. As usual, there's lots of stuff and I've been slacking a little on the updates.

The pastor's meeting went well. It's always fun to get together with them. Pastor Daniel had the meeting in one of the village churches to try to encourage the local church as well. I was encouraged by the local church there. They have some men and youth there along with the women. Pastor Daniel had given me the opportunity to give the message. I pray that it was an encouragement to them. We also had dinner after the meeting—potato curry and rice. This was by far the most spicy food I've had so far. It packed a good punch. The interesting part happened after the meeting. One of the women got in the car with us to ride back. As we were going, I jokingly asked Pastor Daniel if the other pastor (Israel) didn't want her anymore or what. He laughed and explained that Israel and his wife had come to the meeting on the motorcycle and that it wasn't safe to ride back at night with a woman. I understand that, but what really hit me was what he said next. He said that Moses and Ravii (also pastors) would also ride back on the same bike with Israel to up the manpower. This is interesting because when we were going to the meeting in the daytime, Sallie (P.D.'s daughter) had to catch a taxi back to home. It amazes me that at 5pm it is perfectly safe to leave your 18 year old daughter in a village to catch a taxi while at 11pm you need 3 men on one motorcycle to be safe. This seems to be a theme here. On the surface, some things look good or okay, but underneath they are not so good.

Mom was sick last week. She didn't look good at all and didn't act like herself. Everything seems to take a hit when she's sick. She does so much that it's hard for others to pick it up when she's out. It took a couple days to finally convince her to go to the doctors. They gave her some drugs and she's pretty much back to normal. Praise God!

Last Sunday was pretty fun. The older kids play a game called “Christmas Friend” for every week in December. Basically, you get a note from your “C.F.” and have to do what it says or else buy them chocolate. My “C.F.” said that I had to sing a Telugu song for a special song on Sunday. It was sketchy at best, but still fun. I also had the opportunity to give the message during the service. God has given me good thoughts on strengthening the church. At night, Sallie, Stella, and myself went to a Christmas candlelight service at the other side of town. This was a huge meeting. There was lots of singing as well as a dance team (or whatever you call it). The speaker was basically the Indian version of Louie Giglio. He taught the Bible using science.

This past Thursday afternoon, P.D. Informed me that Jay Raju's (village pastor) mother had just pasted away and asked if I would like to go to the funeral. “Sure.” “Okay, we'll leave in an hour or so.” Yeah, they just do everything themselves and so they do it that day. We arrived around 4:30 in the afternoon and waited till about 7 for one of the brothers to come back with a coffin. Although I got some surprised looks from some of the family members when they first showed up, I was amazed at how they welcomed me in to be a part of it. I was wondering if any of them would feel weird about having an outsider at something that was so personal for them. There was absolutely none of this attitude. I'll spare you all the details, but some are very interesting. After everything was packaged (for lack of a better term), all the men carried the coffin to the grave while the women stayed back. As they carried it across the village, they sang hymns. We then walked a ways into the middle of the jungle to the place that they had dug earlier. We buried the body and then returned home late at night.

Christmas was good. We had early prayer service at the church at 5am. Yeah, early. Then we had regular church service at 10am. It was amazing to see the regular congregation plus some for both services. P.D. Gave me the message for the 10am service. This was a blessing. The interesting part came in the afternoon. Uncle Levi's family stayed and had lunch with us. After this, they had the whole wedding arrangement meeting for Stella and Kanukarao (Levi's son). Of course I had no idea what was all being talked about, but it was still cool to see it take place. Some things in India are very similar to the States. This isn't one of them. The whole thing is just really strange. Yeah, I've just had all sorts of cultural experiences this week!

There's also been some very hard times the past couple weeks. There are always difficulties, but they have seemed especially intense the past couple weeks. However, as I look back, they're not really bad because I've seen God's faithfulness more and more in the midst of them. He is so faithful in everything.

Bonus: Here's a little bonus for you just because it's Christmas. There are typical phrases that most of you heard this past week. “Jesus is the reason for the season” etc. This is true, but I think many times we miss the true meaning of Christmas because we stop short. I'll give you an example. Most of you probably heard this verse in Luke 2 where the angel says, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (vs 10-11). I've heard this so many times that I'm beginning to think maybe it's a sin if a pastor doesn't use this passage for a Christmas sermon. It is a wonderful passage, but we often stop too short. Most people, even unbelievers, will most likely enjoy this verse. “Good news.” Everyone loves good news! “of great joy” Everyone loves joy! “for all people” Yes! Wonderful! “for today in the city of David there has been born..” Oh boy! A baby! Everyone loves babies! So now we have good news and great joy and it's for everyone AND there's a baby! Everyone just feels great and lets go home.

Sometimes I think people believe that the angel came and said, “I have come to bring you good news of great joy for all people; you can now have Christmas, a time when everyone should be happy.” This is not what it says. It says, “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” It's not just a baby. I have joy when someone I know has a baby, but I have little to no joy knowing that right now someone somewhere in the world just had a baby. So, why would this baby be good news of great joy, for all people?

To look into this. I would like to look into the first mention of Christmas. We find it in Genesis chapter 3:15, “He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” This is the first reference we see for a Redeemer. A Savior. This is the first reference for Jesus. It came right after Adam and Eve had sinned against God. Right after they had chosen to obey the devil instead of God. When they chose to sin, they separated themselves from God. Man could no longer experience a close relationship with God. This is the reason for all our suffering in the world. This curse was also hereditary. Everyone since Adam and Eve has sinned. We have willingly rebelled against God. We were lost and without hope in the world. It's good news to have a Savior, because we needed to be saved! It's of great joy because it means our relationship with God can be made right again. It's good news for all people not because all people love babies. It's because all people are sinful and need a Savior. If I'm playing in a mud puddle and someone runs up to me and says “I'm here to save you!” it's not good news. The only joy I will have is laughing at them. However, if I'm out in the middle of a storm-tossed ocean and I'm drowning and someone comes to save me, then it's truly good news.

Talking with some people, you would think that the purpose for Jesus coming was just to say that everyone should get along and set a good example. Jesus did not come to earth just to check up on things. He came with a specific purpose. In Matthew 1:21-23, we see, “you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The reason Jesus came was to redeem mankind. He came to do for man what we could not do for ourselves. He came to make right what we made wrong. He came to give His life as a sacrifice for our sin. He came to take upon Himself the sin of the world and death. He came to conquer sin and death so that it would not hold us captive anymore. This is why His birth was good news of great joy for all people.

I've heard many Christmas messages and one thing that seems to always get left out is the very thing that Jesus preached and Paul preached, and Peter preached, and all the disciples preached—repentance. The birth of Jesus wasn't good news of great joy only at Christmas. It's all the time! We have true joy by being free from sin and at peace with God. We get this not by just believing in the baby Jesus, but in the crucified Jesus, and the resurrected Jesus. When we repent. When we turn our minds from trying to get to God on our own, when admit our rebellion against God and believe in Jesus' sacrifice for it. Not when we hide our sin, but expose our mess and filth and cry out for the Savior. This is when Jesus comes in and we are set free and filled with joy. If we will repent and believe the gospel, we will be saved. “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21). THAT is the meaning of Christmas.

“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Please pray for:
--Tabitha's husband-salvation
--Wisdom for the future of this ministry
--Believers here—that they would be strengthened
--Jay Raju's family

Praise Him for:
--EVERYTHING!
--Faithfulness
--Opportunities
--His vision
--Good health

P.S. I did not have time to proof read this update, so I apologize for the grammatical mistakes. It'll give you all a chance to practice grace. Haha, jk.