The Season of Forgiveness

(From the Flora Christian, December 21, 2007 edition)

Christmas is the season when we celebrate miracles: the miracle of birth, the miracle of the heavenly host cracking the sky and bringing a message of glad tidings and joy, and especially the miracle of God’s mercy, grace, and love. This past Sunday, I was reminded how stark the contrast is (sometimes) between God’s grace and my own unwillingness to forgive others.

Joni and I were in St. Louis all weekend, celebrating our 17th anniversary and doing some Christmas shopping. On Sunday, we decided to attend worship at a large church in the St. Louis area where a friend of mine works on staff. It was a very uplifting service with great music, challenging preaching, and even a baptism! But when it came to communion time, I was shocked to see the man who was walking to the pulpit to give the communion meditation. He was an acquaintance of mine from a former church where I served in the St. Louis area. In fact, the right word might not be “acquaintance,” but “nemesis.” I was young, brash (shocking, isn’t it), and idealistic about ministry, and this man represented what I felt was wrong with the organized Church. He seemed to go out of his way to challenge the authority of our elders, undermine the influence of our ministry staff, and generally cause problems whenever he could. Later, he served as an elder himself, and was constantly finding things about my ministry (and me personally) to criticize. I’ll admit it: I didn’t like him much at all.

I had forgotten about him until I saw him walking across the stage Sunday morning. I really struggled with the communion time, because I was focused on how much that man had hurt me (more than 12 years ago!). Then it occurred to me: I have a problem with forgiveness. I have since decided that it’s o.k. to let go of that hurt and pain from so long ago. If I saw him today, I would swallow my pride and go up and talk to him. Not to tell him I forgive him, but to prove to myself that I have done so.

This year at Christmas, maybe you know someone who you need to forgive. If you do, you will experience the true joy of Christmas. God sent to Son Jesus to extend His grace, mercy, and love to ALL of us. Maybe it’s time we all did the same.

See you Sunday! Rob

Happy Non-Religious Politically Correct Winter Holiday Season!

I got an email from my good friend Don Sanders from St. Charles, MO, with this video attached. I laughed when I watched it, but then it hit me that this guy was really "speaking my language." I have thought this a lot, especially this year. More and more companies are going out of their way to remove "Christmas" from their December advertising. Most of them say it's in an attempt to keep from offending anyone of other "faiths" than Christianity. But let's face it, most of the Christmas season doesn't have much to do with Christianity anyway, does it? I mean, as a kid, when we were watching Rudolph or Frosty, even I could figure out that this wasn't the true meaning of Christmas. I think there must be more to this Non-Religious Politically Correct Winter Holiday emphasis than just being non-offensive. I happen to believe that it is the true colors of a bunch of godless money worshippers coming to light. Anyway, I digress.

The following link will take you to a video on the Focus on the Family social action web site CitizenLink.com. The host of the video is a guy by the name of Stuart Shepard, a guy who apparently thinks a lot like me! Click on the link to get to the video page, and click on the red stoplight to watch the video.

Merry Tossmas!

Click here to go see the video.

Finding Your Way with "The Golden Compass"

There has been a lot of typical hysteria over the release of the movie, "The Golden Compass," based on the books by Philip Pullman. As in the cases of former perceived theatrical attacks on God, such as "The Last Temptation of Christ," the Harry Potter books and movies, "The DaVinci Code" and other stuff by Dan Brown, and countless others.

I don't believe that we should blindly accept whatever Hollywood tries to shove down our collective gullett, but I also don't think we (or God, for that matter) have anything to fear from the entertainment industry. I believe that God is bigger and stronger than any movie mogul or production company. So, rather than send out another email with a subject line which reads, "FWD: fwd: fwd: FwD: fwd: The Golden Compass Will Cause Your Kids to Hate God!!!", I decided to do a little research and find a rational, calm, sane approach to this film and these books from a Christian perspective.

At the bottom of this post, you will find a link to an article found on ChristinityToday.com. The article is by Jeffrey Overstreet, an author of fantasy novels (from a Christian point of view) and a regular contributor to Christianity Today. I think the article represents my own feelings about controversies such as this, and I decided to post the link rather than trying to restate all of his thoughts.

If you would like to post your own thoughts about this subject, please read the article first, and then come back here and respond.

Here's the link:
Fear Not the Compass
by Jeffrey Overstreet on Christianity Today Movies

It's Holiday Time (Can we still call it "Christmas"?)

(From the Flora Christian, November 30, 2007 edition)

Rob’s Ramblings. . . .

With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us, it’s time to turn our attention to the Christmas holiday season. (NOTE: I have been assured by the editorial staff of the Flora Christian—Bill and Chris—that it is still o.k. to call it “Christmas” in this newsletter.) We always have a lot of activity around the church family during this season, and I don’t want anyone to miss an opportunity to celebrate the season with us. Don’t forget that on Sunday, December 9, we will have our annual congregational dinner and meeting. On Sunday evening, December 16, we will go Christmas caroling in the community. And of course, on Christmas Eve, we will have special candlelight communion services to celebrate the gift of Jesus. There are also a lot of benevolent projects which go on each year inside the congregation and in the community at large, and everyone is encourages to participate in as many of these projects as are feasible for you and your family.

Each year at this time, I get requests to write or reprint some of the articles I have written in past years about the backgrounds of certain Christmas carols and hymns. Space and time do not permit me to do that this year in the Flora Christian, but I will be sharing some of those stories in a series of devotions I am putting together to be aired on WNOI on December 3-7. If you are interested in listening, be sure and tune in to 103.9 FM on those dates a little before 9:00 each morning.

If you love the music of the season as much as I do, be sure and join us in worship during the month of December. We will have a steady diet of Christmas music, to honor the birth of Jesus and glorify God. See you Sunday! Rob

Honor to Whom Honor is Due

(From the The Flora Christian, November 16, 2007 edition)

I was honored to plan and participate in the Veteran’s Day service at FCC this past Sunday. Once again, I am glad I had the chance to say, “Thank you,” to those of you who have served in our nation’s military. Our veterans know that they have served this nation with honor and distinction, and they know how important that is in the world today. It reminds me of this quote by former President Ronald Reagan, “Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.”

We will have FISH groups for the next three Sunday evenings, and then break from December 9 until January 6. Make sure you mark your calendars for several important dates here at FCC:
1. November 25—Bret Koontz preaching in both morning services
2. December 9—Congregational potluck meal and Annual Meeting
3. December 16—FISH Group Christmas Caroling
4. December 24—Christmas Eve service

More information on these events will come in the next few weeks. Make sure you plan on being part of these and all FCC events.

See you Sunday! Rob

What You Won't See on CNN

O.k., I'll make an admission right now about this post: I have no idea if these stories are true. Also, I have to admit that these stories make me feel good about our military, our nation, and the war we are fighting against terrorism around the world. Therefore, I felt like posting these and I'll let you decide if they're true or not (how's that for "real" journalism?). These came in an email from my friend Dr. Todd Hamilton in Anderson, SC. If you're ever there and need a root canal, look him up (I'm sure he's in the book. Look him up under "Dentists That Prescribe HGH To Pro Athlete's Without An Examination.").

Anyway, here's some stuff you won't read in the major papers or see on the networks or CNN:

Story #1--
When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of Empire building by George Bush. He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

It became very quiet in the room.


Story #2--
At a conference in France a number of international engineers were taking part. During a break one of the French engineers came into the room saying, "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly, "Our aircraft carriers have threehospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three large cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can easly produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters that can be used for transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"

Once again, dead silence.


Story #3--
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks, when a French admiral suddenly complained that, "Whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English." He then asked, "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, "Maybe its because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so that you wouldn't have to speak German."

You could have heard a pin drop!


This year, on Veteran's Day, maybe we should just pray for our nation's leaders, including President Bush, pray for our soldiers, and say, "Thank You," to those who have served.

Once Upon a Time in Heaven. . . .

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God. "Where have you been?"

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've created."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put Life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.

God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth but cold and harsh while southern Europe is going to be poor but sunny and pleasant. I have made some lands abundant in water and other lands parched deserts. This one will be extremely hot and while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land mass and said, "What's that one?"

"Ah," said God. "That's the United States of America, the most glorious place on earth. There will be beautiful prairies, grasslands, farms, streams, abundant wild game and birds, rolling hills and woodlands. The people from the United States are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent and humorous and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking and high-achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, "What about balance, God? You said there would be balance!"

God replied wisely, "Wait until you see the idiots I put in charge in Washington!!!"

"I am what I am, and that's ALL that I am."

(From the Flora Christian, November 2, 2007 issue)


Rob’s Ramblings. . . .


One day recently, after I had been chastised and rebuked by someone, I told a friend, “Hey, I’m like Popeye: I am what I am, and that’s all that I am.” I didn’t like being corrected, and I was pretty sure there was no merit in the criticism I had received. But after thinking about it for a while, I realized a couple of things. First of all, there was probably some value to the criticism. I don’t think it was as big of a problem as this individual did, but as I think back on it, I have learned from the experience. Also, the “Popeye” statement might be funny in a cartoon, but it’s not really true in real life—at least I hope it isn’t.


The first part is true: I am what I am. But I would like to change the second part—I would like to become MORE that what I am. I think that’s what life in Christ is all about: becoming more like Jesus every day. Just like everyone else, I have good days and better days (and even a few that are down-right lousy!). But I want to be able to look back at my days, weeks, and years and see that I am not the same person I used to be.


This month marks the beginning of my family’s twelfth year in ministry at FCC. The Cliftons have grown spiritually (and numerically!) during those years. Thank you so much to those of you who have been such an encouragement and support to us. This is not the only congregation with which I have served, but forever my experiences in ministry will be compared to what I have known and done here in Flora. I am eternally grateful to this congregation for the way you have helped me develop and grow in service to the Lord.


See you Sunday! Rob

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Look, I know this is a cheezy, over-used, "one-too-many-times-around-the-internet" circular email. But it makes me laugh every time, this is my blog, and I wanted to post it. So, here's your Aesop's Fable (of truth) for today.




The Ant and the Grasshopper



TRADITIONAL VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!


MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green." Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi, Barack Omama, and Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer! The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2008!!!!!

Warning: THIS IS A RANT!

Running for president of the United States is a joke! Or apparently that's what Stephen Colbert thinks. While I appreciate his satirical humor (although I don't agree with his position), and I believe in his right to free speech, I am disappointed. The true political satirist should probe for the difficult laugh, not the easy one.

What made people laugh at Mark Russell (the self-proclaimed "Master of Political Satire") was his ability to find the obscure laugh in the headline that made us all uncomfortable. For example, in 1992 on the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the New World, revisionist historians were trying to paint Columbus as a villian for destroying the cultures which existed in North America prior to it's discovery by Europeans. One of Russell's jokes was, "You would think we could come up with a better excuse for a holiday than Columbus Day. I mean, hasn't Christopher Columbus been pretty much outed as the guy who introduced genocide to the New World?"

Now, while I disagree with the position behind the joke, THAT'S funny! But Colbert, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, and the modern day political "satirists" only poke fun at one side: the conservatives. They claim the intellectual high ground, even though they couldn't hold Ann Coulter's bra (or jock strap, or whatever she wears).

I have a list of suggestions for satirists to make fun of: Barack Obama's voice (he could do voice-overs for Lurch on the Addams' Family!), Hillary Clinton's SCARY face (speaking of jock straps vs. bra straps!), John Edwards as a leprechaun, Bill Maher as Hugh Hefner's illigitimate son (seriously, Google their images and compare them!), or Fred Thompson as the heir to Ronald Reagan's throne (oh, wait--that's not funny because it could be true!).

Don't get me wrong: I'm not denying the liberals their chance to poke fun at conservatives. I'm just suggesting that there should be a little "parity" in the proceedings!

After all, a democrat in charge of the U.S. military--now THAT would be a joke!

Is it just me?

Or does the prospect of Hillary as President REALLY scare you? I mean, she almost gave us to China when her husband was President! Plus, I am embarrassed at the thought of Bill as First Lady. Just wondering how it will all work out. . . .

Hot or Cold?

Rob’s Ramblings. . . .

Did you hear the one about the company that prints blank bumper stickers? They’re for people who don’t want to get involved. I see a lot of bumper stickers, some of which I disagree with, and others that just plain offend me personally. But even if the person is taking a stand for something that I believe is wrong, at least they’re taking a stand. In the book of Revelation (3:15-16), Jesus told the church in Laodicea, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” That verse seems to tell us that we are more respectable to God if we’re wrong than if we’re just not involved. The truth is: there’s no such thing as uninvolved. If you’re not involved serving God and advancing the Kingdom, then you’re in the way and helping the enemy.

I hope you have gotten some spiritual encouragement from the messages that Ben and I have shared the last two weeks. I appreciate the opportunity that Bill gave us the share with you from the pulpit. I don’t know if you are aware of it or not, but you have three ministers who love and care about you more than you know. I want you to know that we pray for you and appreciate the opportunity to serve the Lord by serving you. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but they were mistakes made with the best of intentions. The last eleven years of ministry have been the most enjoyable, most challenging, and most spiritually exciting of my life. Thank you for the continued opportunity to serve with you here at FCC.

See You Sunday! Rob

What's going on here, anyway?

This is my personal blog. Everyone has to have one, right? I mean, it's nearly 2008, and if you're not bloggin', you're just not tryin', to steal a common catch phrase.

My purpose in creating this blog is two-fold. First of all, I have gotten a few requests for my past columns (from our church newsletter, The Flora Christian) and I don't have a good filing system to reproduce those. (Translation: I don't know where most of them are unless you have a back copy of the newsletter.) Secondly, I often have ideas or opinions for which I have no outlet. Especially when those opinions are of a political nature. It would be highly unprofessional to vent my political opinions in my official capacity as minister at First Christian Church in Flora, IL. Not to mention job suicide in many occasions.

Hence, this blog. It's a personal blog, not supported or financed in any way by the church. The opinions expressed here are my own, no one else's. If you disagree with something I write here, fine-that is your right. If you respond to one of my postings with a posting of your own, fine-that is also your right. If I don't like your response and decide to delete it-that is MY right! I just want to say this: you have every right to disagree with me. You have the right to be wrong if you choose.

I will post all of my columns from the church newsletter here. The newsletter is printed every other week, so the articles will be posted at the same frequency. I will also occasionally post other things which I write for church, such as messages, lessons, announcements, news releases, etc. I will also occasionally post political observations (read: RANTINGS) which will be of a very conservative nature. There, that's FAIR WARNING!!!!!

If you have any ideas or suggestions, email me at rcfcc@aol.com.