Again, on behalf of the guiding coalition seeking to improve our process of discipleship, I want to say thanks for your willingness to humbly examine yourself to see if Christ is in you. The results of the exam give us a clearer picture of our current discipleship culture and will be beneficial as we address areas of concern.

Exam Results from August 17

Exams handed out – 130 women                   Returned – 88 with 114 choices (24 circled two)

Most doubled response: busy and lonely

Exams handed out – 120 men                         Returned – 64 with 87 choices (23 circled two)

Most doubled response: blessed and busy

Women            Men            Total

Scenario #1 I’m Blessed…To Bless                20                   12                 32        16%

Scenario #2 I’m So Busy…Rest                       31                   16                 47        23.5%

Scenario #3 I’m Lonely…But Open                13                     8                 20        10%

Scenario #4 I’m Content…For Now               20                    26                46         23.5%

Scenario #5 I Desire More…Help                   12                    10                22          11.5%

Scenario #6 Let’s Return to Past…                 10                   11                 21          10.5%

Scenario #7 Other                                               6                     4                  10           5%

The Bible is very clear that God’s offer of salvation is far more than a self-help or lifestyle improvement program; it’s an offer to abandon self and our conformity to the patterns of this world in order to radically follow Christ in mission together. Do our results affirm this truth?

My prayer is that you spend some time reflecting on the current exam results. (If you desire to refresh your memory of the scenarios, copies are available on the table in the narthex). What do they tell us? What should we do in response to these results?

And then, the Consistory, the staff, and the guiding coalition would love for everyone, 9^th grade and older to join our Engage Congregation Workshop on Tuesday evening September 16. In addition to briefly reflecting on these results, we would like to hear your voice in regards to where you feel God is calling ARC to engage the Transformed and Transforming initiatives at a deeper level.

I am so excited about God’s call on our lives to bear fruit—fruit that will last. May we respond with humility, seeking to remain in the Vine as he remains in us.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ,

Mike Altena

This past week Vicki and I spent part of our vacation riding motorcycle in the Black Hills. Keeping in mind Erin’s article from a couple weeks ago, we set out on Monday morning with no other plan or agenda than to ride. We hopped on Highway 244 west; then took Highway 385 south. When we arrived in Custer City, we came to a crossroads which required a choice of three options, either continue south on 385 to Hot Springs, turn left on Highway 16A to Custer State Park, or turn right on Highway 16 which would take us west and then north into Wyoming.

Being unfamiliar with the area, we decided to turn right, and headed west out of town. When we got to the edge of town we encountered something rather unusual; a police car and another car were stopped right in the middle of the highway and the two individuals were just talking to each other. I thought, okay, that’s how they do it “out west” and proceeded to pass by on the side. After accelerating and reaching the speed limit, I looked in my mirror only to find the policeman was following me—with his flashing lights on!

After pulling over, I first thought to myself, oh what a friendly policeman; he wants to visit with me too…NOT! I thought the same thing you would; I thought, what did I do wrong. After getting out of his car, he started walking towards us and he quickly began reassuring me that I had done nothing wrong. He then proceeded to inform us that if we intended to travel into Wyoming we would encounter an eleven mile stretch where they had removed the asphalt surface and it was now loose gravel. He then suggested we take another route, because over the weekend, eleven motorcyclists had “gone down” on the gravel.

I politely thanked him for the warning; he got back in his car, turned around and headed back to town. Then I began thinking to myself, what does he know. And who is he to stop me from enjoying a trip into Wyoming; what’s a little gravel? And as far as the motorcyclists who went down, the poor saps probably just didn’t know how to ride. And so with Vicki pleading with me to turn back, I set out to prove both of them wrong. Nothing’s going to stop me, I thought to myself.

Well, would you know it, we weren’t more than a mile down the gravel road and we wiped out, both of us sliding and rolling down the gravel road. Bumps and bruises and skin being rubbed off like sandpaper removing old paint. Pieces of motorcycle were busted off and laying all over… Okay, wait, stop, back up!! I was just kidding about the last two paragraphs. We really didn’t keep going. Of course we turned around. We were so thankful that the policeman had warned us of the impending danger and so we chose another route and had a very enjoyable ride.

I’m sorry if I startled you, but the whole incident reminded me of the story told in Jeremiah 6:10-19 where God called his people to repent, but they refused (it’s worth reading). Verse sixteen has become a favorite of mine. It goes like this, “This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.”

Although I still lack humility and obedience, I feel I’m growing in submission to the Spirit’s warnings and instructions. I hope you are too. My prayer is that both you and I will faithfully choose to walk where the way is good—where you and I find peace and rest as we follow the way, the truth, and the life. If not, right now would be a great time to turn around.

Grace to you, and peace, Mike

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to Whitney Elbers and Courtney Fey in winning last week’s math quiz from my article. The correct answer was 1.4 inches of rain fell while I was writing the article. May you be blessed as you savor every bite of your cyclone from JJ’s!

On a more somber note, on Tuesday morning a high school student in Troutdale, Oregon opened fire, killing freshman Emilio Hoffman. Following yet another tragic and senseless school shooting, President Obama responded by saying, “The country has some soul searching on this. This is becoming the norm. Our levels of gun violence are off the charts. There’s no other advanced, developed country on earth that would put up with this. We should be ashamed of the shooting after shooting on our streets and in our schools. We should be ashamed that Congress sits on its hands and does nothing to curb the slaughter.”

In a following interview President Obama said, “Yes mental health is an issue related to violence, and we have to find better ways of dealing with it. But other countries have people with mental illnesses and don’t have shootings on this scale. The United States does not have the monopoly on crazy people. Yet we’re the only developed country that repeatedly has such terrible acts. There’s no place else like this.”

A natural human response in time of tragedy is to find out who, or what, is to blame. After a brief reflection of President Obama’s soul-searching on why we should be ashamed, I believe he has found three reasons for these meaningless deaths. Blame must first be placed on guns. Secondly, the blame rests on Congress whose hands seemed to be stuck under their butts. And then thirdly, but nearly as important as the first two, mental illness is to blame—it’s all those “crazy people” in our society.

Really, really…guns, congress, and mental illness are to blame for Emilio’s death. My first thought is that there must have been something wrong in the heart of the shooter. I believe it was Jesus who said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19)

You know the sobering truth is, when it comes to technology, industry, and military power, America may be an “advanced and developed” country, but when it comes to getting at the heart of why our country is becoming more and more immoral, we rank right at the top with the rest of the “underdeveloped” countries in the world.

All President Obama would’ve had to say in response to the shooting is, “Fellow American’s, according to God’s holy and inspired word in Proverbs 29, ‘Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.’ In other words, if our nation is going to overcome our increase in immorality, our government, our education leaders, and our parents must repent of our spiritual adultery against God and idolatry of self. And I humbly declare, I am ashamed of my leadership, it must begin with me! We must turn our hearts back to God and begin living according to his revealed Word. We must begin to instill in our youngest generation that in order for the glory of God’s kingdom to be established in our land, it begins by having the humility to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love their neighbors as much as they love themselves.”

Well, I’m not sure writing Presidential speeches is for me; however, it is my prayer that you and I would model to this increasingly corrupt world, a heart that is fascinated by Jesus and with a passion to live and love like him.

Deeply saddened, Mike

When I think about all the rain over the past week, there is a sense of delight and gratitude that fills my heart. Although I assumed by the continuous sound of thunder and rain pelting against our bedroom windows last Saturday night that we were receiving a good dose of rain, I was quite surprised Sunday morning to see that we had four inches in the rain gauge. That’s a lot of water—21,742 gallons on my lawn alone!

Well, as I drove to Woodstock last Sunday morning to fill a Classis appointment, I saw the effects of the four inch rain. Many of the creeks quickly filled up as they collected the excess rain water. Cornstalks gathered where the culverts were too small to allow the rain to pass under the road. And what I dislike seeing the most, the excess water eroding deep gullies in the topsoil on certain hillsides.

Isn’t it true that sometimes too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. Although the main point of this article isn’t soil erosion, I would like to thank those area farmers who take careful measures to steward your topsoil well so that future generations can enjoy this great resource. However, it also breaks my heart to see so many hillsides that should either be terraced or not even be farmed. I see so many places where waterways should be wider and where filter strips should be established. I see so many fields where I would guess the landowner has no concern for future generations.

So enough about soil erosion, the question the Spirit brought to mind as I was driving; Mike are you taking intentional steps to make sure your heart is good soil and are you stewarding your life in such a way as to prevent spiritual erosion? (Have you ever noticed how good the Holy Spirit is at asking questions)?

Well, the truth is, during the past two weeks I have really enjoyed working on a couple of projects around our house. So much so that the two projects have been eroding my time spent in the Word and in prayer. As I confessed my idolatry to the Lord, the Spirit brought this scripture passage to mind, “This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. ⁶ They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land. ⁷ “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. ⁸ They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

I praise God for how he alerted me to how the good projects I was doing turned out to be eroding my relationship with Him! And how about you, are you taking intentional steps to make sure your heart is good soil and are you stewarding your life in such a way as to prevent spiritual erosion?

May you and I be like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots deep into the waters, so that we will never stop producing fruit.

Grace to you, and peace,   Mike Altena

PS. I thought you might like to know that while I was writing this article, God blessed my lawn with an additional 7,609 gallons of rain. J And so based on the previous information, I will buy any school age person a cyclone from JJ’s if you can tell me how much rain was in my rain gauge.

One of the rich blessings of being a grandparent over the past two years has been the excitement Rilyn displays when we come to visit with her. Upon arrival she opens the door and excitedly welcomes us in; repeatedly announcing “gwampa and gwamma are here!” Once we’re inside their home Rilyn begins to run and jump around with excitement and then finally she’ll run back towards me to give her a hug. When we’re finished hugging she will quickly begin telling me something new she’s been doing or she’ll invite me to begin playing with her. It’s so fun to experience her energy and love.

A few weeks ago, Vicki and I went to Mitchell and Traci to celebrate Traci’s birthday. Again, I was also excited to see Rilyn, only this time it was different. We knocked on the door and this time Mitchell invited us in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rilyn sitting by her little table watching the movie, Frozen, on her iPad. Her eyes and attention were deeply fixed on the movie. I took my coat off and walked over to her. I knelt down beside her to watch with her, she quickly glanced at me and then right back to the screen. I put my arm on her shoulder as my way of announcing “gwampa is here to see you,” but she kind of squirmed away as if to say, “don’t bother me, can’t you see I am busy”.

It felt strange. See in order to bless her, when the movie Frozen was released in November, Vicki and I took her to the theater to see it. She loved the movie. Many of her Christmas presents had to do with the characters in the movie. A few weeks later she had a birthday party and the theme was Frozen. And on that night a few weeks ago, it felt like she loved Frozen more than me. Anna and Elsa had stolen her heart from me.

As I reflected on my experience that night, I came under deep conviction realizing I often do the same thing with God. See, he also loves to visit with me and so he often stops by. And rather than welcoming him with great excitement, like Rilyn I’m often distracted by other things that seem more amusing and entertaining. Like Rilyn, I often take those experiences or things that God blesses me with and they end up becoming obstacles to my relationship with him.

I thank God for how he spoke to me through my experience with Rilyn. Shortly after, while enjoying my time with God, he reminded of these simple truths from Psalm 16, “I said to the Lord, You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing…. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be moved…. You have made known to me the path of life; you fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

May you and I never forget that nothing will have the capacity to bring us joy like being attentive in the presence of God and that we may never love the gift more than the Giver.

As for Rilyn, like God, I will love her no matter how she responds to me.

Grace to you and peace,  Mike

With all the light snow and wind lately I’d have to admit my “wantoer” to keep the driveway clean has been broken. You ask, what is a “wantoer”?  Well according to my dictionary, in noun form, my want-to-er is synonymous with desire or impulse. In verb form, my wantoer is applied as a yearning, a need, or an aspiration.

For example, yes, I am grateful the snow amounts have been light, but I just don’t want to scoop any more. Yes, I’m grateful that I am healthy and strong enough to scoop around the edges of my driveway, but I just don’t want to anymore. Yes, I am grateful that I have a really nice snow blower, but I just don’t want to have to start it again. When it comes to scooping snow, my wantoer is busted!!!!!!!

Will you pray with me that God will mend my wantoer to scoop snow? See, because of the fact my wantoer is broken, Vicki went out to get the mail on Monday and she fell when she hit some snow-covered ice. Thankfully she wasn’t injured.

Speaking of a broken wantoer, I think of the Apostle Paul who also found his wantoer was damaged. He wanted to live according to God’s will, but he kept finding himself doing what he didn’t want to do. He explains it this way in Romans 7, “¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

After reading the passage, I would guess everyone can really relate to Paul. When it comes to doing good, our wantoers are broke.  We wish we would take better care of our bodies, but our wantoers are broke. We wish we would walk as Jesus walked more faithfully and boldly, but our wantoers are broke. We wish we would manage our God-given resources more wisely, but our wantoers are broke. Actually, we were born with broken wantoers.

Mike, do you have any good news for us in this article? Yep, Paul continues, ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!  (8) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death (free from a broken wantoer).”

The good news is that our wantoers are restored when we admit we are powerless without Christ living in us. When I die to myself, surrender my will and allow the Holy Spirit to have his way in my life, my wantoer is renewed. As I learn to walk in the Spirit, I abandon my pursuit of gratifying my sinful nature, and I begin doing the good I want to do.

So, how about it, how is your wantoer when it comes to allowing Jesus to live his life through you? Father, our wantoers are broke—they’re dead!!!!!!!—and it’s hurting the people around us. Please send your Holy Spirit to breathe new life in us. May it be so.

Mike

About a month ago the students in my Catechism small group informed me that they had heard about a man who had been found frozen to death in Luverne.  However, no one seemed to know the details surrounding his death other than alcohol may have been involved. When you hear about a person who was found frozen to death, it raises many questions and concerns.  What was his name? How old was he? Was he married? Does he have family in Luverne? Did he have friends who cared about him? Did he work somewhere? Did he slip and fall? Did someone else cause his death? Was alcohol actually involved? Was he a member of a church? Was he saved?

Actually, I guess I wasn’t too concerned about his death because I forgot about it until I read the article in the newspaper several days later. After looking up his obituary, I discovered this about the man that was found dead:

Percy L. Manning was born on December 18, 1954 to Bessie Manning in Chicago, Illinois.  He received his formal education through the Chicago Public School System, where he enjoyed studying and learning new things–especially about cars and car repair.  Percy always worked somewhere in the auto industry where he could work with and gain more knowledge about automobiles.
Percy visited Minnesota on and off throughout his life.  He moved to Luverne, Minnesota, not too far from where his best friend and cousin lived, Willie Martin.  Percy will always be remembered as a gentle person with a giant heart.  Percy departed this life on December 7, 2013.  (For the sake of space I am omitting the names of several family members and friends that will cherish his memory, but I include this final insight of his obituary).  Percy will definitely be missed in Chicago.  

As I finished reading his obituary, I thought, “that’s it,” that’s all we know about Percy Manning. Will anyone in Luverne miss Percy? As I reflected on the story, I began to wonder how many “Percy Manning’s” there are in American Reformed Church. How much do we know about each other and do we really care if someone is missing?

And it’s for that reason the Elders and I have developed and are implementing an intentional Care Shepherd Ministry at ARC. The Consistory truly desires that every member of our congregation feels loved and valued and therefore, today we will be commissioning 24 Care Shepherds to assist our Elders in order that we might more effectively care for one another.

The Bible has a great deal to say about our call to care for “one another.” Here are just a few: We are called to love one another. Serve one another. Accept one another. Help one another. Encourage one another. Be concerned for one another. Carry one another’s burdens. Be devoted to one another. Pray for one another. Admonish one another. Comfort one another.

Makes me wonder, would Percy still be alive if we would have been able to “one another” him? My prayer is that each of you will humbly and respectfully accept the love and encouragement that will be displayed by your Care Shepherd. I pray that no one would feel isolated and ready to be devoured by Satan but that everyone would be growing in enjoying the abundant life as we spur one another on to love and good deeds.

And one final piece of good news and hope for Percy, according to someone who “one anothered” him, “It was during this last move to Luverne that he accepted Christ, in a local church here in Luverne, Minnesota.”

Pity the man who has no one to help him up,

Mike

I realize many of you probably aren’t aware of this, but between the joy-filled season of Christmas and New Years Day is what’s known as Black Monday. Tomorrow is recognized as Black Monday because several National Football League coaches are expected to be fired from their jobs. Just looking back a few years, twelve coaches were fired in 2011, seven coaches were fired in 2012 and ten coaches could find the pink slip in their mailboxes tomorrow.

Now I realize the firing of these coaches isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of our lives, and even though NFL coaches earn an average of three million dollars per year, I still find myself feeling distressed for some of them. I mean, they’re only human. Of course there are going to be occasions when a coach makes a bad decision that might cost them a game. And should a team owner expect a coach to perfectly train and prepare each player—is it the coaches fault when a player drops the ball in the end zone? And ponder this, is it really Christian to fire a coach because a certain quarterback doesn’t play up to expectation? Should a coach be fired because he can’t seem to motivate his team?

As I was reflecting on Black Monday, I began to think, what if God was like an NFL owner. Would he terminate me for the way I treat Vicki? Would he expect me to place higher value on her? Or would he have fired me for the way I discipled my children when they were younger. And what feedback would he give me for how I interact with my children now?

And when it comes to being a neighbor or citizen in the community, I wonder if he would question my leadership and effort in working together in harmony. And in regards to managing his checkbook, what would he think about my investments?

And then last but not least, I wonder, how would he assess my leadership role in his church? Would he be surprised by my lack of seeking his counsel? Would he begin searching for my replacement because of my lack of dependence on his Holy Spirit? Would he let me go because I erred on the side of too much grace or too much truth? Or would I find the pink slip under my door for my poor decisions in both word and deed?

As I reflected on how God dealt with his chosen leaders in the Bible, I acknowledge my hope and peace rests in his grace. I can only take comfort in his patience and grace filled way knowing there is no Black Monday for those he loves. Yes, I will experience his loving discipline from time to time in order that I might more faithfully lead like his Son, but like Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah, Peter, and Paul, I am grateful his mercies are new every day.

I stand in agreement with Jeremiah’s journal entry in Lamentations 3, “God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God.

Well, those are my thoughts for now. I better get back to work; today begins another new and exciting season making disciples in his kingdom!

Happy New Year! Mike

Ok, like the Land of Puzzling Tales, I still think it’s kind of strange that we give each other gifts on Jesus’ birthday. I guess if there’s a bright side to it, without all the Christmas shopping, we would be experiencing an economic depression.

Again, as I think about finishing up my Christmas shopping for Jesus, I want to give him the perfect gift, but what do you give someone who already has everything.

I think I’m feeling like my two sons did when they were younger, what do you get your parents when they seemingly have everything.

Well, as much as they liked receiving gifts, Mitchell and Jonathon were always excited about finding the perfect gifts for Vicki and me. Over the years they’ve given us some pretty cool stuff, but the gift I remember most was the year they gave us a coupon book. And in the coupon book were all kinds of coupons like, this coupon is good for one night of playing ball together. Another coupon was for spending time together at the park. Another coupon for a hug at any time. I think there was even one coupon that said, this coupon is good for one night at the races—you pay (wait, who was actually getting the gift with that coupon).

Anyway, the point of their gift was that they just wanted to spend time with us. More than likely because of our busy lives, they were just asking if they could have a little of our time.

As I was reminiscing over that precious gift from the boys, I realized the greatest gift I could give to Jesus for his birthday is time. And no, not because he’s so busy, but I believe giving my time would be the perfect gift because I often find myself too busy for him.

And maybe the gift of time would be the perfect gift because that’s actually what he asked for. In Matthew 11, Jesus offers this request for time from all of us, “^28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

So what do you think? Wouldn’t time hanging out with Jesus be the best gift you and I could give him this Christmas? And did you notice, when you give the gift of time to Jesus, you and I will also receive a gift from him. Jesus said, I’ll show you how to take a real rest and the result will be, and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Of course Jesus is the great gift giver we celebrate during this Christmas season, and my prayer is that, having been so blessed, you and I will make every effort to continue to be a blessing to everyone you meet.

Have a blessed Christmas,

With love from Mike & Vicki

This past week it was Vicki’s birthday so to honor her and celebrate with her I wanted to get her a card.  I’m always up for a little humor, so I thought about getting her a funny card with these endearing thoughts: “Birthdays are like boogers, the more you have, the harder it is to breathe.” Maybe true, but I didn’t want to ruin her day.

Then I ran across a card with these kind words: “I notice how hard you work to make things the best that they can be. I notice how much you give, never expecting anything in return. I notice that you never forget to play or laugh or love or make me feel important.”

Or these reflective thoughts: “Happy Birthday. And I’m celebrating us—our sharing, our planning together, and always, the laughter and love that keeps us going and fills the ordinary days with moments to remember. I love you so much.”

And this wonderful tribute: “To My Beautiful Wife. You’re a gift from God. When I see the way you care for the family and all you do for us, I realize how many moments just wouldn’t happen and how many blessings would be missing if not for you…”

And this narcissistic blessing:  “Thank you for letting me be me, for loving me as I am, and understanding me so well… how lucky I am to be married to you. Happy Birthday” I’m surprised it didn’t say, “How lucky you are to be married to ME!”

Hey, have you ever noticed that the focus of the message expressed in a birthday card is mostly on the person giving the card. Basically, most birthday greetings are actually thank yous; thank you for sacrificing your life so that my/our life could be better.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about what to get Jesus for his birthday. So far I have decided to help someone in his name and to get along with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Because I was looking for a card for Vicki, I thought I would look for a birthday card for Jesus too. Guess what, I couldn’t find one. Oh well, probably not that big of a deal. I’m sure the message of the card would also focus on me. The message might be something like this: “To My Wonderful Savior. You are a gift from God. I notice what you gave up to save me. I love how you make me feel. I don’t know what I would do without you. I know I should tell you I love you more, but I don’t. Thank you for loving me so much. I bet you’re glad I accepted you into my heart. Happy Birthday!”

Please don’t read what I’m not writing. I am truly grateful for all that Jesus has done for me, but I think the third gift I want to give Jesus for his birthday is my worship. I’m going to focus my worship on adoring Jesus for who he is. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing… “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever” (Revelation 5:12-13). Happy Birthday!

I hope you will join me in giving Jesus your undivided worship for his birthday—regardless of what he has or hasn’t done for you.

O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

Mike