That's What C····tmas Means To Me

Several years ago, I shared this article.  There was a great response to it from the readers.  By request, I have resubmitted it for this season.  I hope it touches your heart. TJB

The title of this article is "That's What C····tmas Means To Me". Do you find the title appalling or maybe even offensive?  This holiday has taken quite a beating over the last few years.  However, this year my senses seem to be heightened to it's plight.  For me, it is not simply about a yuletide tradition.  It is about a dangerous trend in American society regarding any reference to Christ or Christianity.

What is billed as an argument for the separation of church and state has really proven to be a movement to eliminate Christianity in America.  I read an article describing a December parade of lights in a major U. S. city.  The parade officials rejected Christian entries in the parade because of "direct religious themes".  The article went on to include that the parade accepted an entry that honored people recognized as "holy" by a gay and lesbian group.  Another entry included a dance "meant to drive away evil spirits".  This parade traditionally carried a Christmas theme but in the age of political correctness, faced sudden changes.  My concern is that the other entries also have religious themes.  They are just non-Christian themes. 

I have observed this trend in our schools.  As a student in middle school, I was chastised by a teacher for my report on a Christian theme but was required to learn about Eastern religion on the basis that it was "cultural".

Another recent article tells of a Florida elementary school that is so concerned over the issue that they are banning seasonal celebrations altogether.  They have opted to have the students sing about America and patriotism instead of about C····tmas and the holidays.  Although on the surface this appears to be an acceptable alternative, it also feels dangerously close to the actions that we were taught as destructive to freedom.  Communist countries teach children there is no God and that their life purpose should be directed by the "will of the people".  Their children also replace religion for songs about their country and its leaders.  Forgotten is the reason this country came into being to begin with.  People paid a terrible price to build a life where they could worship God without restraint.  It is called freedom. 

The message that is being relayed is incorrect.  Some, who do not honor God, falsely accuse believers in God of trying to force their beliefs upon them.  They say believers are unfair. They argue that believers discriminate against them.  They will tolerate a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Rastafarian, a druid or any other religious sect, yet they will lead the march in discrimination when it comes to someone's right to worship or declare their love for Jesus Christ.

In reality, a quick trip to your local department store the day after Halloween gives a clear indication of how people feel about Christmas, religion not withstanding.  So does a drive around your neighborhood on a December night and the general sense of goodwill in the grocery store parking lot.  This holiday does not threaten people.  People are going to believe what they choose to believe.  My father always told me, "You cannot push a rope."  This is true.

What C····tmas means to me is that my country is dangerously close to sacrificing its values based on incorrect ideas and thinking.  Moral code is always tied to belief and when you fight to eliminate ones right to believe, you eliminate moral code.  You soon find yourself subject to everyone's right to a lack of morals.  The result is the necessity of armed policemen in our middle and high schools.

How does one eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  When these issues began to surface, many people swallowed them in "little bites".  We have eaten a lot of this elephant without realizing it and it is time we take notice.  My hope is that we exercise our right to believe this year -- and put Christ back in Christmas!

ENOUGH SAID

It has been a while since I have posted.  Time has been at a premium this month.  Between traveling to Mexico for a Men’s Congress, and returning home to a major Advent and Christmas production, something had to give.  Apparently it was the blog site.  Go figure, it is one of my favorite outlets, mainly because it gives me the opportunity to encourage others.

That is my mission here.  I have had a few ask me, “Apostle, why don’t you use the site to bring the things you have taught to so many?”  And, “That message was great – insightful and challenging.  It should be on the post.”  Or, “I never realized the powerful gift God gave us with regard to the Eucharist, or ‘Lord’s Supper’.  I will never receive it in the same way.”

(I quoted these because I told those who said it; I would get around to it. This blog post is dedicated to them!!!)

Quite frankly there is a reason why I do not use this venue to bring “the deeper things”.  I did not create this blog to spread doctrine.  I created it to offer encouragement to others – to inspire people and challenge them to consider how to wring the most out of life and to recognize the potential God built in them.

I often receive response from people who have read the blog, or read one of my articles in the paper.  Some are encouraging.  Others are – well – let’s just say, I would expect a bit more from a pastor…

Not that it bothers me, but in recent weeks, it has apparently bothered a few others.  Hence this post, which is designed to bring simple clarity of purpose to the reason for this blog in the first place.

There are people from all walks of life who touch my world.  This is intentional.  I harvested that by specifically targeting people who are usually avoided by the “religious community at large”.  I have had believers delete me from their list of facebook friends because they took offense at a posting on my page from someone who used course language or someone who’s post indicated that they were living in an ‘alternative lifestyle’.  “What if your church members see that?” Or, “What example are you setting for your children?”  Hopefully, it is one that Jesus labored to set for us…love one another.  Faith that can be shaken by such outburst is a shaky faith indeed.  One interesting comment that came was an unsigned, anonymous note.  In its entirety it read:

“Therefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, says the Lord.  Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. 2 Cor. 6:17 –

ENOUGH SAID”

The problem here is compound.  First, the verse alone is out of context.  Paul was referring to believers in Corinth who were entering relationships (sexual in connotation) and marrying others who’s beliefs were contrary to the Gospel.  The word “touch” is the Greek word,  ἅπτομαι  (hä'p-to-mī)  (St G680)  It defines the “attaching of one’s self to, to adhere to, to cling to, and more specifically, of carnal intercourse or cohabitation.  From a Levitical standpoint - the avoidance of pagan ritual." – NOTE: Not avoiding pagans.  The Israel of old had a plan to adopt those who were not Jewish into the fold( see RAHAB)  If they were to avoid such people all together, there would be no need for such a plan.     

Ironically, in 2 Cor. 6:14, which is part of the same instruction from Paul, he uses the phrase “unequally yoked together” with unbelievers.  This phrase is a translation of the Greek word ἑτεροζυγέω  (he-te-ro-zü-ge'-ō). It means "to come under a different or unequal yoke."  In this case Paul was forbidding the Church at Corinth from having intercourse with unbelievers.

(Another ironic note is that I find myself trying desperately to teach unwed BELIEVERS not to have intercourse with others – believers or not, until they are married – a story for another venue on another day!)

What is funny about the words Paul used is that they are derived form the word Jesus used - ζυγός (zü-go's) (St. G2218) which means "yoke, or enslaved" and ἕτερος (he'-te-ros) (St. G2087) which means "to another, a number, of different value or quality."  These words in context of Jesus’ teachings referred to being enslaved to the religious mindset of the Pharisees, who were long on sacrament and protocol but short on spiritual insight and compassion.  They believed their expression of worship was the most revelatory and that those who could not see it were of a lesser mind and purpose. In short, their’s was a judgmental life in which they were the only ones with a valid point to make.  Hence, their role in the Crucifixion.  Jesus' teachings, actions and associations were naive to their revelation and thus, He was disqualified as a Messiah.   

All this to say, relax, I am not unequally yoked.  I am looking at the people to whom Jesus reached out.  They were fishermen, tax collectors, doctors, Jews, gentiles, even demoniacs and prostitutes.  And I took notice of the phrase, “To him who has ears to hear, let him hear…”  Jesus reached those in need by inspiring them and encouraging them.  He knew that not everyone in His hearing was prepared to receive all He could say.  He used parables which seldom “quoted the word” but inspired while introducing to people, kingdom values and principles. He carefully held the doctrine of the kingdom to those who embraced Him and were walking with Him.  The multitude vs. the disciples.  Those who were listening vs. those who were listening and following.  When Jesus did open the Word, He generally brought challenge and even provocation – usually to the religious.   There are times for that but not here.

Jesus said, if I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.  My purpose here is to exalt Jesus.  It is to encourage and inspire those who do not know Him to discover Him and how great He is.  Further, it is to inspire those who do know Him to discover in greater measure the plan and purpose He designed for their life.   

To surmise, my dad told me, “Don’t tell everybody everything you know.”  He was right.  This blog is not an indication of all of who I am.  It is an indication of something I want to be: a man who encourages, a man who inspires, and a man who demonstrates with simple clarity that God is love.

Enough said.

Succession - Through God’s Eyes

In the last couple of blogs, I focused on succession and legacy.  I write this from my hotel room in Toluca, Mexico, as I continue to prepare for a men’s congress here this weekend.  My purpose in that congress is to convey much of what I have shared in the blogs over the last several days.

Succession was the focal point of our 2010 National Conference for the International Coalition of Apostles.  I was greatly moved during this ten-year anniversary, as I watched C. Peter Wagner pass the mantle to my Apostle, John P. Kelly.  For those who do not know, the ICA was birthed by Apostle Kelly e decade ago.  In its inception, Apostle Kelly felt led to call upon Dr. Wagner to be the president of the organization.  Dr. Wagner’s leadership and labor of love have been a great blessing and an inspiration to us all. 

Within the apostolic movement, one major concern has continued to present itself.  That concern is the process of succession.  Hence; the reason for it becoming the topic of this year’s conference.  There have been great moves of God throughout the years – many within the United States.  Some were large, others were compartmentalized.  Most were very effective in reaching others with the gospel of Christ and His Kingdom…and most died the same death.  Somehow, in the process of fulfilling the plan and purpose God placed within the leaders of the movement, the element of succession was missing.  No one was raised up to carry the movement to the next level or to the next generation.  The seed scatters and the benefits of the movement may influence others for a season, but as a whole, it loses a lot of its effectiveness.  A city is taken, transformed, put on the map spiritually, only to become an entry in the history book and a ghost town. 

In studying God’s word, I do not believe that the plan of God is that man labors for a time, takes dominion of an area, dies and allows that area to be retaken by the enemy.  I believe that God called us to establish a stand, take the ground to which we are called and develop those who will labor to continue it and to make it grow and flourish.  Repeatedly, the words, “This shall be to you and to your children, and to your children’s children…to the third and fourth generation” appear in God’s plan.    This is why it is so important to understand not only the role you play in God’s kingdom, but the role your spiritual and natural offspring are to play.  My father graciously fought against nepotism in our family and ministry.  Nepotism is one of the greatest dangers to the church, and really to leadership as a whole.  Businesses die because nepotism placed a son or a daughter into a position for which they were neither called nor qualified, simply because of their name.

My father recognized early on that my walk, my gifts, my leadership philosophy and even my personality were vastly different from his.  He knew that if he tried to make me walk “his line”, I would self-destruct, or worse, destroy others in my wake.   He challenged me early on by acknowledging our differences and even celebrating them.  However, he also took great care to make certain that woven into my spiritual and mental DNA were the tools necessary to feed the development of my love and passion for God and for God’s kingdom.  In this manner, he helped to solidify that whatever I did; I would continue the work of the Kingdom within my own life.  This is a cornerstone for succession.  Then he did the unthinkable to the natural mind.  He encouraged me to embrace Apostle Kelly as my spiritual covering because I was to reach for things that would require guidance beyond our relationship.  When Dad ordained me, he made this statement.  “ I did not raise you to stand beneath me and undergird me.  I gave you everything I’ve got.  I commission you to stand on my shoulders and go where I haven’t gone.  And you better run fast because I don’t intend to stop.  Don’t EVER let me pass you.  Run harder and faster and fulfill your role in the Kingdom.”  I will never forget…

Another essential key to succession is knowing when to release.  I was disturbed by the number of people that I encountered at the conference; who face great challenge of time, because they have never been released into their call by their spiritual leaders.  I have many friends, who’s true ministry never surfaced until they reached the age of 50, because they were bound to the service of their mentor until he dropped dead in his seventies.  To the opposite end, most of the people that I encountered, who entered their prominent ministry in their prime years, either did so because they got saved, excited, educated and launched.  The majority of these ministers are first generation ministers.  They were not raised in church, or to serve other ministers.  They caught it and ran with it.  TO an equal and opposite end, most of the ones who were waiting for their ministry to open up are second generation ministers, who served under their natural or spiritual parents.  The gap that I found interesting is that when I encountered a minister who had launched in his prime, who had been raised under a ministry, he was a third, fourth or even a seventh generation minster. 

This indicates that there has to be a link regarding succession.  A lot of times, the first generation minster hits this wall.  He does not know when or how to create the release necessary for the next generation to move forward.  The result is that stagnation occurs, hope is deferred and the succession is destined for failure.

I speak of this in terms of ministry because that is where I was raised, but the same holds true for business.  I have encountered the same phenomenon in troubleshooting suffering businesses.  I have spent hours talking what third and fourth generation business owners to discover that the key to the continued success was knowing how and when to release the next generation correctly.    

I have to believe that God not only created us this way, but demonstrated it openly with His own son, Jesus.  Jesus was on the earth for 33 years, yet His ministry centered around the last 3.  There was a brief mention during His 12^th year, when He sat and mesmerized the rabbis in the temple.  I find it interesting that His launch into public ministry was not simply God’s decision, but a joint decision between God as His Father and Mary as His mother.  He instructed Him to do His first public miracle.  God did not need Mary to “push Jesus out of the nest”, yet He chose to have her be a part of that launching.  She recognized that it was time.  Why did He use her?  It set a precedent that the process of release handed down through the generation of Judaism was of God’s design.

We must recognize that the greatest value God has placed in our lives is the gift of reproduction.  As long as the earth remains, there is seed tome and there is harvest.  He never intended foe the fruit of our labor to survive only one generation.  He determined that our fruit should bear continually.

I am thankful to my father, Phil Byler, to my apostle, John Kelly, and to his spiritual father, C. Peter Wagner for striking the chord of succession in my heart…especially when I am young enough to implement it in my own children.  I hope my words encourage you to consider the process of succession.  Doing so will prove to be a major key in the success of your generations to come.