Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Merry Christmas!

I'm a few days early, but its a busy time.

About 1800 years ago the churches in Alexandria, Egypt, decided to celebrate the birth of Christ. There was some controversy about it at the time, because, traditionally only the pagan kings had public celebrations of their birthdays. But many Christians felt that since Jesus was the King of Kings, He should be honoured if anyone was. They tried a few different dates before settling down with December 25. There was already a holiday around that time, so everyone had the day off.

This Christmas is going to be a special one in the Bird house. Its my grand-daughter's first, but its also the first since my wedding. My wife has never been responsible for a whole Christmas dinner before, and she's putting a lot of thought into this one. My older daughter and her husband take turns when it comes to family dinners. This year they're at our house. Next year at his family's. My younger daughter is 18 now, and as my family has a history of moving out soon after hitting 18, we don't know where she'll be next year. This will be our last dinner as an entire family for two years, and maybe longer, so I am hoping we'll all have a good time.

I hope you also have a good time with your families, and if you're not with your families I hope there is someone you can spend the day with. If not a loved one, a friend or group of friends.

Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 16, 2005

You can’t be humble on your own terms.

Christmas is almost over – I mean, here! Only nine days to go and the pressures of the holiday season will be behind us. Unlike many, I don’t find the holiday depressing, but I do find it very tiring and when you’re tired the real you gets a chance to come out once in a while. No, I haven’t flown off the handle, not yet, but over the last couple of days I have had to remind myself not to.

You can’t be humble on your own terms. That’s a bit of wisdom the Lord laid on my heart a few years ago, just as I was about to be swept up into a lot of turmoil I could not avoid or control. Sometimes you think that if you are doing a lot for someone, you are fulfilling your end of the relationship – personal, professional, whatever – but maybe what you are doing isn’t really what they are wanting from you at all. You’re just doing a lot of what you want to do, burning yourself out and not getting back what you think you deserve. Sometimes when we feel unappreciated we just sit down and rob ourselves of the blessing of going that second mile.

Blog news: I have added a description to the blog and a little more profile info. Just the stats (I’ll get to the photo and interests when I have more time). Since adding my birth date, it now gives my astrological and Chinese zodiac signs. I’m not sure I like that. Beyond any religious or spiritual concerns, I have always found that stuff a bit flakey. Even the people I know who do enjoy that sort of thing would never expect me to add it to a profile.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Conversion

I had an interesting conversation with a co-worker last night. He’s an Anglican and he knows that, while I am a Pentecostal now, I was originally an Anglican too. I had once described becoming a Pentecostal as converting and he wanted to know why I used that word when I was just switching churches. It could have been because of the radical differences between Anglicanism and Pentecostalism, when it comes to beliefs and practices. Mind you, I know many others who came into Pentecost from very different churches, yet who wouldn’t describe the change as a conversion. Rather, to them it was simply another step in the walk the Lord had for them. Like I said, that could have been it, but it wasn’t. In spite of those differences, the real reason I consider Pentecost to be the start of my life as a Christian is that my life as an Anglican stopped when I was in elementary school. Like a lot of people, Sunday School was as far as I ever took it.

My youngest daughter, in spite of my attempts to encourage her, has never converted. If you ask her she will tell you she is not a Christian, she doesn’t believe in that stuff. Mind you, she refers to the church I go to as her church and her opinions on what constitutes being a Christian and Christian doctrine is heavily informed by the upbringing she says she doesn’t want a part of. I guess why this topic interests me is because my daughter just turned 18 and will be out of the house before long. When I turned 18 I had no interest in Christ, but within six months I had been born of the water and the Spirit. I guess a part of me is hoping for an encore.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Well, its a start.

I have been thinking about doing this for a while. I have been a Christian since 1981, I have remained committed and I am happy with my church, but for the last couple of years or so I have felt as though I was on the edge of something more. I have no idea what. But writing has always been a good way for me to develop my thoughts and ideas. Hence the blog. I am calling it Christian Beta, because a beta program is one put out, before its a finished product, in order to work out the kinks and get everything operating smoothly.

I want a space in which to develop new areas in my walk. My purpose isn't evangelical. I am not doing this to influence others -- though feedback is always nice. Actually, at this point I am not a hundred per cent sure where this is going. I haven't formulated an agenda, set a focus, or whatever. Perhaps that'll come out of the process.

I do intend to focus primarily on my Christian walk, though it could detour into other interests. I hope to post at least two or three times a month (ideally, a lot more than that, but we'll see). Anyway, I expect to spend the next little while getting the hand of setting things up. I know its supposed to be easy, but I am a hands on learner when it comes to computers and at this point I am going in cold.