The shepherds

My Dad sent this to me in an email... Something he had read.
It is very fitting to where Mandy and I have been in our lives recently.
We have been spending time with 'the shepherds' and wishing we could do it more.
After spending a meal with the 'shepherds' I came home to see a new video a mega church was showing of their band. 10 band members with the newest IPAD's or IPhone playing Christmas music on them. Immediately I felt anger at the wastefulness of spending $700 times 10 just for the want to be a 'trendy' church.

Why do we spend Millions of dollars in America and not see those 'Shepherds' who are living in the woods directly behind our god of convenient shopping?

We spend so much on items that get hastily unwrapped, set in a pile and then not touched for another month. That thing we HAD to have...

When so many people around us like Wyse, Washington and Mike just want food, socks and underwear that are warm, and if possible help to get some propane for the makeshift cook stove and heater they all use when it gets cold.

And yet I just spent $45 on lights and garland for the house to be festive. I went each day with my boss this week to Starbucks and got a coffee when the hotel's was good enough and free... (he was paying!) Why does a $5.00 coffee taste better then a $.50 cent or the free stuff at home? It doesn't but it makes people feel 'in' or normal.

So here is my challenge: FORGET NORMAL! FORGET FEELING IN! FORGET THE LATEST FASHIONS! FORGET IT!

But SHAME ON ME AND YOU IF WE FORGET THE 'SHEPHERDS!!!'

I don't know about you but my Jesus didn't live in a mansion. In fact the more you read, my Jesus didn't even live in a home. He was homeless... "The son of man has no place to lay his head.."

Do I want to be LIKE JESUS?



_________________________________________________________________

I'm Celebrating Christ with the Shepherds


Luke 2:8-20

I used to pity the shepherds, but this year I'm celebrating Christmas with them.

Picture this: on a warm clear night, lowly, dirty shepherds were out in an Israeli field with their flock of sheep.

The Gospel of Luke records that without any warning, the heavens blazed with the glory of heaven. The shepherds were petrified. They saw and heard angels loudly proclaim the news that the promised Messiah had just been born in a stable. The God of love had intersected time and space. Then the shepherds immediately ran to Bethlehem.

It was no accident that the good news was told first to the shepherds. Everyone else would have minded going to a smelly hay-filled barn to see the Baby King. But not the shepherds; it was familiar turf.

As soon as the shepherds came face to face with Jesus in the stable, they could not keep the glory of the Lord to themselves. People might have thought the shepherds were drunk. But the shepherds were sure of what they had seen and told others. People actually listened. "And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." Luke 2:18

I used to pity the shepherds, but this year I'm celebrating Christmas with them.

Five Reasons I'm Celebrating Christmas with the Shepherds

1. The shepherds were sacrificial. They were willing to lay down their lives for their flock if necessary. Even when the shepherds got the heavenly wake-up call, probably one shepherd had to stay behind with the sheep.

2. The shepherds were humble. They didn't have intellectual pride or they would not have believed the King could come as a lowly baby. They didn't have material or social pride because they hung out with sheep. They didn't have religious pride because as shepherds they could not enter the Temple.

3. The shepherds were courageous. They didn't let fear of the unusual keep them from answering the call. (Since when is running toward God a bad thing?)

4. The shepherds were changed. If an adjective could be put in front of the shepherds' conversion, it would be "wondrously" saved. They walked, smelled, sang, and loved differently. God had not just changed them, He had rearranged them.

5. The shepherds were obedient-immediately. They didn't make the new Baby wait. They had no trouble following, once they heard God's heavenly call.



I have been changed by the nativity, so I am going out to tell everyone I know, including the shepherds in my life. In fact, maybe that is who I will tell first. Who will you tell?