This is Holy Week, a time for re-visiting and reflecting on the passion of Christ.  As a part of our journey through Holy Week, we are looking forward to sharing in a Good Friday Service with our friends at Allen Chapel AME and we are preparing for our celebration of the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday morning.

What does Easter mean to you?  I asked a few members of our church family what Easter means to them and this is what they had to say:

I always feel Easter is a new beginning.  All of nature is waking up and breaking out in all of its beauty.  It’s like a new beginning for me as we celebrate the resurrection of our wonderful savior and what it means to us.  I try to reassess my life to see how I can better serve Him. -Grace Barry

Christ’s death on the cross, as the sacrifice for our sins, was not enough for our salvation. He had to raise Himself from the dead for those of us who believe in Him to go to Heaven. -Savannah Hatsfelt

Easter reminds me of the supreme sacrifice my Lord gave for me as He died on a cruel Roman cross and on Easter the empty tomb showing that He conquered death and sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for me. – Charles Griffin

Easter is about a living Savior who gives me guidance and lets me serve Him in his ministry.
– Gene Langston

Easter reminds us of the sacrifice God made when He gave His only Son. That sacrifice means that because of God’s love and grace and Jesus’ willingness to die, we can be forgiven for our sins, and can spend eternity in heaven with God. -Carole Thompson

Easter is a reminder that we are set free in Christ- free from death and sin, and the cynicism, anxieties, and all that other craziness that comes with it. The message of Easter invites anyone from anywhere to come to Christ and discover this freedom. -Brianna Leatherwood

The resurrection marks final action in God’s redemption plan for mankind, and the beginning of an eternal relationship for believers with Him. – Andy White

Easter is a reminder of the resurrection that happened in my life. Death, brokenness and decay do not win just as the life of Jesus did not stop with his physical death. The future is freedom from darkness, and life that has been redeemed by the blood shed on the cross and restored through an empty tomb. –Mary Elizabeth Turnage

Christmas gets all the glitz and glamor, but Easter is the Big Event. Christmas celebrates the birth of the Christ child, but Easter celebrates the glorious day that ALL of us received new life through Him. –Steve Shell

To a world that looked at the gospel with a “question mark” God gives us His assurance with an “exclamation mark” which we see in the resurrection of Jesus. – Dr. Al Butler

Easter is a blessed reminder that ALL is well….we are victorious even in death! – Dr. James Pleitz

This Sunday we will be focusing on The Resurrection Factor (John 20:1-18). Remember to bring fresh flowers for the flowering of the cross. I look forward to seeing you as we gather on Easter for worship and Bible study.

On President’s Day weekend, one of those long weekends when “School’s Out,” Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Damon Furnier, better known as Alice Cooper and his wife Sheryl, joined us for worship at First Baptist Pensacola, unannounced.  In fact, there was a pretty big crowd that day and I didn’t even notice that they were in the congregation.

An extraordinarily large number of middle school and high school students were seated together, front and center, in colored “Wise Up!” tee shirts as our worship time served as a grand conclusion to Disciple Now Weekend, a huge event devoted to equipping and instructing teens to make “wise” life choices. The atmosphere in the service was charged with energy and encouragement.  And one of the most popular rock musicians in history was in the crowd, somewhat anonymously.

A few hours after the service I happened to notice a few social media posts from members who “wished they could have met Mr. and Mrs. Alice Cooper at church today.”  At first I assumed that they had seen someone in our service who resembled Alice Cooper.  However, I became a little more curious when one of our ministers reported, “Alice Cooper and his wife came out my door and shook my hand.”  And on Monday I confirmed that Alice Cooper was indeed in Pensacola, had dined at one of our excellent seafood restaurants, had played golf at our top notch Country Club, and had joined our church family for worship.

Why was Alice Cooper in our worship service? And how should a church react when such a well-known celebrity comes to church? Although I wasn’t ever a huge Alice Cooper fan, I recalled reading a story or two about Alice Cooper’s Christian faith, testimonials similar to those of Bono and Ringo Starr. After discovering that the Coopers had joined us for worship, I revisited a few of those stories and even watched a video of his testimony on YouTube.  I learned that Cooper teaches Sunday School on occasion at his local church, and that he frequently attends worship services and Bible study gatherings while he is on the road.

Both Cooper and his wife were raised in Christian families.  In one interview, Cooper said, “I grew up in a Christian house. My dad was a pastor, he was an evangelist for 25 years, and I used to go up and do missionary work with him with the Apaches in Arizona.  My grandfather was a pastor for 75 years. I grew up in a Christian home. And my wife’s father is a Baptist pastor. So, I was like, we were PK’s – preacher’s kids – so we married each other.”

After some prodigal years early in his career, Cooper said he stopped drinking and started going back to church with his wife. “I finally realized, I had to go one side or the other,” said Cooper.  “The Lord really convicted me, saying, look, it’s time to make a decision here.”

It was rather inspiring to learn that Alice Cooper prioritizes a time for worship during his busy travel schedule.  And as a pastor, I am actually glad that very few people in our congregation noticed that Cooper and his wife were present in our worship service, and those who did, allowed them to be worshippers on that particular Sunday, and not celebrities.  As far as I know there were no autographs, no photos, and certainly no “selfies” with Cooper in the background.

When a celebrity comes to church, they usually prefer anonymity.  At our church we preach that “everyone stands on level ground at the foot of the cross.”  Every individual is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). On any given Sunday in our congregation you may spot local and national media personalities, prominent businesspersons, esteemed congressmen, respected judges, and renowned athletes, well-known individuals in the community who join the rest of us as we gather to worship God and embrace our primary identity, which is “child of God.”

On the Sunday that Alice Cooper came to church, quietly and without notoriety, he heard an A+ sermon from our Student Pastor and he joined his voice with others in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. He was not there as a notorious entertainer.  He was there as a fellow worshipper alongside spiritual family members who share a common confession, yet who travel a lot of different roads through life. As it is on most Sundays, it was an encouraging day of worship for our church family. Alice and Sheryl, I trust it was a good day for you as well. You are welcome here anytime.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

by Barry Howard

In his popular book, Toxic Charity, Robert Lupton challenges churches and other charities to reconsider and revise their mission strategies in order to make them more effective. If a church deems Lupton’s assessments to be valid, what are the steps a congregation can take to instill a sense of empowerment and not a sense of entitlement in the people we aim to help?

In addition to providing ministries to educate, equip, and care for their membership, local churches generally invest a significant portion of their “tithes and offerings” to fund local, national, and global mission projects. When those resources are distributed to persons in need without any expectation or long-term objective, the perpetual flow of unmitigated resources ignites a “downward spiral” which produces a sense of entitlement that trends toward continual poverty. When those resources are made accessible via a delivery system that nurtures personal responsibility and cultivates life management skills, opportunities emerge that may enable a family or individual to rise above poverty and to live as an integral member of the community.

When a congregation or agency begins re-thinking, re-imagining, and re-visioning their missional strategies, there are a variety of possibilities that may emerge. But for a reformation to begin, a church has to start with a few specifics. As I think about the church that I serve, the following five strategic steps come to mind as doable and specific transitions where we might begin the conversation:

• Adopt guidelines for charitable giveaways. Lupton encourages churches and non-profits to limit “giveaways” to emergency situations and special occasions such as the aftermath of a disaster like a house fire or major storm.

• Grow a coalition of community partners. Consider convening a network of community partners who share the common goal of empowering people toward a sustainable quality lifestyle beyond poverty. Cooperative and collaborative partnerships between churches and missional agencies can strengthen the effectiveness of each partner, and accomplish exponentially more than one partner acting alone.

• Convert existing ministries such as food pantries and clothes closets to “co-ops.” Providing opportunities for individuals in need to participate in the purchase of commodities at a price that is affordable to them reinforces a sense of pride, fosters financial management skills, and encourages personal responsibility and accountability.

• Expand “adopt a school” initiatives to “neighborhood development” initiatives. Neighborhood initiatives may target such crucial life areas as educational enrichment, vocational training, neighborhood morale, spiritual well-being, and health and recreational opportunities. Just as congregations have often “planted churches” in missional areas, perhaps it is equally important for churches to “plant communities” in strategic neighborhoods. Specific community development projects may include extreme home renovation, launching neighborhood renewal teams, and encouraging families to re-locate to the adopted community to live as strategic neighbors.

• Engage in global missions initiatives that have a blueprint for becoming self-sustaining. While relationship building is an anchor tenet for effective mission work, mission trips and projects that engage, empower, and/or employ local and indigenous personnel in a partnership aimed for sustained ministry is much more effective than hit or miss “feel good” trips that have no long range plan.

Robert Lupton cautions us that transitioning our missional strategies represents a significant paradigm shift, a shift that will require intentional conversations, honest evaluation, and courageous leadership. When it comes to sharing the good news tangibly and effectively, a church may have to sacrifice a few “sacred cows” to accomplish a more sacred mission.

If you really want to make a difference for the kingdom and to maximize the energy and resources of your church, dare to launch the conversation in your congregation and begin to identify the strategic steps you need to take to detoxify your missions and ministries.

(Barry Howard serves as the senior minister of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

by Barry Howard

Many years ago, I was prompted to rethink my own presuppositions about stewardship after reading Ron Sider’s probing book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity.  More recently many of us have been thinking more deeply about the church’s missional strategy as we have wrestled with Robert Lupton’s Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It).

Along with other books like When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor… and Yourself” (Steve Corbett) and Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development (John Perkins), Toxic Charity is spurring churches and non-profits to re-evaluate how we can best use our gifts and resources to create opportunities and incentives for the poor and disadvantaged.

Dr. Lupton is the founder of FCS Urban Ministries through which he works to develop mixed income subdivisions which become home to hundreds of families.

Last week we hosted Robert Lupton in Pensacola and invited him to address three groups:  Business and community leaders, non-profit leaders, and church and social service leaders.   I attended the meeting for church leaders, which was hosted on our campus, and I walked away challenged to re-think and re-vision the missions methodology.

Here are a few of the highlights of what I heard Lupton say:

• Church ministries for the poor should aim for empowerment, not entitlement.

• One-way giving creates a downward spiral. Limit one-way giving to emergency situations.

• Mercy that doesn’t move intentionally in the direction of development (justice) will end up doing more harm than good — to both the giver and recipient.

• The members in our churches are mostly motivated by genuine compassion and generosity.

• Too often we do missions in a way that helps us feel good about ourselves rather than in a way that does the most good for those we aim to assist.

• Churches tend to do “missions” with our heart and we need to learn to do missions with our head, strategically thinking toward desired outcomes.

• As pastors we need to call on our parishioners to be strategic neighbors who missionally enter targeted communities to be a redemptive and catalytic presence.

• As pastors we need to call out the young and adventuresome spirit of our young adults to be catalysts in community development.

• Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people.

• We may not reduce the crime rate of the metropolitan area, but we can take back a neighborhood, one crack house at a time, one block at a time.

Upon reading Toxic Charity, as Lupton “deconstructs” the ineffective approach of many churches and non-profits, at times he seems to come across like a plain-spoken surgeon with less than a gentle bedside manner. And it is clear that he is recommending major surgery on our missional practices and not just a facelift.  However, when I heard Lupton in person, I perceived him to be a passionate missional strategist, who speaks the truth in love, and who wants all missional groups to maximize their resources and their impact, and not settle for less effective uses of kingdom dollars.

Lupton’s message mostly includes pragmatic points supported by indisputable data.  But there are a few points that are debatable such as his assessment of the value of mission trips. Lupton assesses the value of a mission trip by comparing the dollars spent by a mission team who travels to provide a service versus the amount those dollars could accomplish if contributed to the mission entity to provide the work or service locally.

From my perspective that argument overlooks two important facets of mission trips:  First, the argument assumes that funds supporting the mission trip would be given to missions in lieu of a trip. In my experience many mission participants are already giving generously to fund missions support and the funds they use for an experiential trip to the mission field are often the funds they would otherwise use for a trip to the beach or a trip to Disney World.  Second, I think the argument underestimates the value of the hands-on missions experience in familiarizing the participant with the missional landscape and hopefully cultivating a lifelong heart for supporting missions more strategically.

However, I think that Lupton is on target in pointing out that mission trip expenditures can be disproportionate in effectiveness compared to the cost of local labor. Rather than assuming a “we’re here to save the world” mentality, Lupton encourages churches to approach missions with the disposition that as missioners we are guests and partners of our hosts on a given mission field.

As pastors, church leaders, and community leaders, our missional strategies are long overdue an upgrade.  Lupton’s perspectives certainly raise questions that need to be asked and they offer data that needs to be assimilated.

Lupton emphasizes that “detoxifying” our ministries requires a paradigm shift, and that shift will happen gradually and not overnight.  To detoxify our mission and ministry strategy will require that individual congregations, presbyteries, and dioceses engage in courageous internal conversations that include honest evaluation, proactive vision, and community partnerships.

(Barry Howard serves as the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

Reading is not a discipline I developed early in life. During my teenage years, I perceived reading to be a nuisance and necessary evil.  Somewhere during my college years, however, I learned to enjoy reading, not just for assignments or entertainment, but for personal growth. At this point in my life I need books like I need food, to satisfy cognitive hunger and to probe intellectual curiosity.  Books stimulate my thinking, exercise my memory muscles, and challenge my prejudices.

I typically read a variety of genres including fiction, spirituality, theology, history, and biography.  And I usually keep from three to five books going at the same time, a practice that was recommended by one of my favorite university professors.  This discipline invites a variety of conversation partners into my internal dialogue. For example, right now I am reading Rick Bragg’s biography of Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, John Grisham’s Gray Mountain, Philip Yancey’s Vanishing Grace, and David Baldacci’s The Escape. Such diverse

Somewhere near the first of each year I make a list of books that I plan to read during the coming year.  In addition to the books I hope to read for pleasure, I have compiled a list of 15 books I plan to read in 2015 that focus on church leadership, spiritual formation, and theological inquiry:

1. Vanishing Grace: Whatever Happened to the Good News  by Philip Yancey
2. Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott
3. Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church by Scot McKnight
4. Simplify: Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul by Bill Hybels
5. Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most by Marcus Borg
6. Who Is This Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus by John Ortberg
7. The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus  by Dallas Willard
8. Disarming Scripture: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives, and Why We All Need to Learn to Read the Bible Like Jesus Did by Derek Flood
9. The Skeletons in God’s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War by Joshua Ryan Butler
10. Visions of Vocations:  Common Grace for the Common Good by Steven Garber
11. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
12. From Tablet to Table: Where Community Is Found and Identity Formed by Leonard Sweet
13. Kingdom Come: Why We Should Give Up Our Obsession with Fixing the Church and What We Should Do Instead by Reggie McNeal
14. The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings by John Philip Newell
15. We Make the Road by Walking: A Year Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation and Activation  by Brian McLaren

In my experience, reading a variety of authors who write from assorted faith perspectives stretches my mind, enriches my daily walk, and expands my capacity to relate to variety of people.

This year don’t just read the spiritual stuff that reinforces what you think you know with certainty.  Dare to read something that challenges you to think about life and faith from a different vantage point.

Happy reading in 2015!

Christmas Day has arrived.  Advent preparation is complete and today is the day to “come and worship the newborn King.”   For many, the holidays typically usher in a shopping frenzy and frantic pre-occupation with gift giving and gift getting.  But what if the most important gift we can give requires us to bring ourselves to the table, to spend ourselves on a mission that is bigger that our personal ambition, to align ourselves with One who epitomizes simplicity and service?

Giving gifts has long been associated with the Christmas story. A year or two after the heralding angel had ascended, the watchful shepherds had disbanded, and the borrowed manger was again being used as a feeding trough, scholars from the East finally arrived having followed the lingering star in search of the mysterious child: When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh (Matthew 2:10-11 NIV).

Over two thousand years later, as we contemplate and celebrate how our lives intersect with the One born at Christmas, the most important gift we offer cannot be bought in a store. I readily confess that Romans 12:2 does not typically evoke Yuletide emotion, but this verse boldly challenges us to live out our faith by following choosing the road less traveled: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (NIV).

Treasures construed to be the contemporary equivalent of gold, incense, and myrrh are still important, especially when they are given in support of missions and ministries that care for the least of these, but they are not the only gifts we can offer in honor of Jesus. As you finalize your gift giving, perhaps you might consider offering something that costs you a little more of your self, a contribution from your own cache of talent, a treasure from your own unique reservoir of giftedness.

Do you recall the legend behind the musical story of “The Little Drummer Boy,” the song about a boy who gave of his meager talent by playing the drum for the Christ child?  Introduced in the U.S. in the 1950’s, this memorable holiday carol made popular by Bing Crosby, was actually based on a Czech tune, “Carol of the Drum,” composed by Katherine K. Davis in 1941 and later recorded by the famed Von Trapp Family Singers in Austria.   The more familiar “drummer boy” version details the fictional but meaningful tale of a young boy who approached the manger with nothing to offer but his drum.  However, as the boy began to play his drum, his unique gift brought a smile to the face of the infant.

Throughout this holiday season a variety of colorful and thematic decorations will adorn many of our church campuses, iconic symbols such as a Christmas tree, an Advent wreath, or a manger crèche. Peculiar in the décor of the church I serve is a drum tree that is constructed annually in our atrium. Vick Vickery, our retired Scoutmaster, assembles this drum tree each year out of 34 percussion instruments from different eras in history.  Included in this display are replicas of the rope drum used in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Historically, these instruments were crucial for conveying instructions and maintaining morale, for in the days prior to advanced telecommunication, soldiers were trained to listen carefully for strategic commands encoded in the resounding beat of the drummer.

Now, stacked and configured in the form of a Christmas tree, our drum tree serves as a Christmas reminder that God calls us to march to the beat of a different drummer, receiving our formative cues and motivation from the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus. While the default values of our culture may prompt us to spend irresponsibly, to consume disproportionately, and to hurry frantically, our faith calls us to march to the rhythm and cadence of a different percussionist, to be cheerful in giving, gracious in receiving, and intentional in living.

During this festive season of the year, you and I are invited to invest our best gifts, tangible and intangible, in ways that express our allegiance and alignment with the One born in Bethlehem.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.        John 1:14a MSG

Occasionally called the “forgotten Christmas story,” the first chapter of John describes the incarnation of Christ in philosophical prose.  In contrast Matthew and Luke give us nativity narratives which chronicle the birth story of Jesus.  John, however, describes Jesus as the Word who came to bring life and light to all who are willing to receive it (1:4).  And now, over 2000 years later, that Light still guides our steps and that Life continues to infuse our existence with mission and meaning.

The gospel accounts are compiled from different vantage points.  Just as Matthew’s gospel addresses the historians and genealogists among us, and Luke’s gospel sings to the poet and musician with in us, perhaps John’s gospel dialogues with the inquirers and logicians of the world, both past and present.

John proposes that in the beginning of all things, the Word co-existed with God. Before order was brought out of chaos, the Word was with God. Before light emerged out of darkness, the Word was with God. Before the first breath exhaled through human nostrils, the Word was with God. The Word was, is, and always will be in sync with God.

The Greek term translated and personified as the Word is Logos. Logos is a technical philosophical concept which can be translated as “ultimate meaning” or “reason for being.”  During Christmas we may see a slogan that says, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  I think John is actually suggesting that “the incarnate Word empowers and informs our reason for being.”

According to John, the Word took on human form and moved into the neighborhood.  In other words God not only entered the world for us, but God has chosen to be near and accessible to us.  In other words, the God of the universe, who transcends our capacity to comprehend or control, has freely and lovingly chosen to relate to us personally, to communicate with us in a language we can understand…an exemplary human life.

Remarkably, God not only invites us to receive light and life; God also calls us to be life and light wherever we live and wherever we go.  As we follow the example of Jesus, we become light and life in our community.  As we serve God by serving others, mysteriously, we become God’s flesh and blood in our neighborhood.

May I follow Jesus as the light of my life and also share that light with others through my attitude and actions.  Amen.

by Barry Howard

Moments of meditation, prayer, and devotional reading are crucial to faith development in all seasons. Advent, however, is a prime season for deepening one’s devotional life.  And if you opt to go “paperless,” there are many excellent Advent devotional resources available online. During my high school years, the student ministry at my home church challenged us to begin the practice of a daily “quiet time.” Since that time, my personal devotional time has been a primary catalyst for spiritual growth and direction.

Across the years, however, that seedling notion of a “quiet time” has emerged into an early morning ritual which centers on inspirational reading, prayer, and reflection. And the resources I utilize are highly diverse, ranging from testimonial to liturgical.

A couple of years ago I went “paperless” in my devotional time choosing to utilize online Bible apps and a variety of e-resources for my devotional time. Online resources are especially helpful during holiday travels because the resources can be accessed on any internet computer or smart device including laptops, tablets, and cell phones.   Going paperless also keeps my desktop a lot less cluttered whether I am at home or in my office.

Most online devotional sites provide complimentary access, and the costs are covered through donations or advertising revenue.  And maybe most importantly, like any electronic communication, e-devotionals save paper and are friendly to the environment.

As I began preparing for Advent this year, I searched for good resources to share with my congregation and to use in my own personal devotional time. I wanted to find resources that are easily accessible, theologically sound, and culturally relevant.

Like other online devotional resources, Advent E-Devotions may be posted by churches, missional organizations, or individuals. A few of the devotional sites invite you to register your email address and they will send a daily devotional directly to your inbox. Other sites have corresponding “apps” that you can download making access easier on your mobile devices. And all online sites can be bookmarked or added to your favorites list for ease of access.

Here are a few examples of online Advent devotional options that you might find helpful:

Local churches often provide links to their Advent Devotional Booklets. For example, the Advent Guide at my church is compiled by our Children’s Ministry and is posted at http://www.fbcp.org/Uploaded/14-Advent-Book.pdf. These booklets can usually be accessed as a PDF file, or downloaded to a tablet, Kindle, or E-reader.

D365.org is sponsored by Passport Camps and provides a daily Advent devotional that is appropriate for students or adults.

Buckner International is a faith-based social service organization based in Dallas that serves hundreds of thousands of people each year across the United States and around the globe. Their Advent guide, written by assorted authors, can be downloaded at http://www.buckner.org/adventguide/.

The Denison Forum on Truth and Culture provides multiple resources to equip people to “change the culture for the kingdom.” The DFTC web site offers inspirational Advent devotions that are written by Janet Denison at http://www.denisonforum.org/store/download/0-/17-advent-devotional.

Sacred Space is an online prayer site provided by the Irish Jesuits. They provide a guided Advent devotional series and an Advent Retreat option at www.sacredspace.ie.

Whether you are new to the practice of a daily devotional experience or a long time practitioner, you may find that a good Advent E-Devotion may enrich your spiritual preparation for Christmas, and ultimately deepen your celebration of the birth of the Christ.

(Barry Howard serves as the Senior Minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

The long lines of Black Friday have finally gone down but the blitz of the hyper-commercialized holiday season is just revving up. This period of time from Thanksgiving to Christmas has become the “busy” season. There are trees to decorate, parties to attend, relatives to visit, gifts to buy, and cards to send.  The frantic pace is exhausting and if we are not careful, Christmas will have come and gone with nary a “Silent Night.”

Is there any way to slow down the clock and adjust the volume so that we can really experience the peace, love, and joy of the season?  For those who long to reclaim the holidays as holy days, Advent can be a meaningful and refreshing approach to Christmas.  As a devotional season of preparation and reflection, Advent can help us to organize our thoughts and priorities in ways that highlight the mystical wonder of the Christ child’s birth.

During my early years as a pastor my journey toward Christmas changed drastically when I was introduced to the colors and candles of Advent.  Mission-driven Christians who live in a market-driven culture need the reflective disciplines of Advent to help us recognize and avoid stealth forces like materialism, busyness, and greed, a trio of fickle Grinches who aim to steal the real gifts of the season and replace them with superficial slogans and glamorous counterfeits.

Advent beckons us to take the road less traveled en route to Christmas. When our days are seasoned with prayer and saturated with messianic hope, we will inevitably focus on the story of Christmas more than the stuff of Christmas.  Advent delivers us from the busy quest and the relentless anxiety of meeting materialistic expectations as it calls us to a deeper faith, a rich spiritual communion that exceeds the buzz of shallow commercialism.

In our times of Advent worship we will re-visit the prophets, re-read the gospels, sing the carols, and light the candles that remind us of peace, hope, love, and joy. If we dare to journey through this season at a slower pace with ears wide open, we may sense the pre-natal anxiety of Mary and Joseph, catch the scent of rustic shepherds, see the brightness of the Christmas star, and hear both the sounds of Angels singing and the sobs of Rachel weeping.

Then, without the props of clamor and clutter, we may discover that we are more than ready to follow Christ from the cradle to the cross and beyond.

(Barry Howard serves as the Senior Minister at First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

Many of us will be privileged to gather on Thanksgiving Day with family and friends to enjoy a bountiful feast and hearty conversations around the table. And either in our morning devotional time, or the prayer before the meal, we will give thanks for our many blessings.

As one of our treasured holidays, Thanksgiving is a day set aside, not only to give thanks, but to remind us of the ongoing importance of gratitude. In I Thessalonians 5: 16-18, Paul encourages believers to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Elie Wiesel proposes that, “When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.”

As we grow in faith, we may discover that choosing a disposition of gratitude enriches life in more ways than we have previously imagined. Experiencing and expressing gratitude throughout the ever-changing seasons of life has a way of re-shaping our perspective and re-formatting our attitude.

In my journey of faith, I am discovering that gratitude encourages me and others around me.  When I am frustrated and tend to see the glass half empty rather than half full, I find that the practice of “counting my blessings” infuses me with encouragement, and that encouragement spills over into the lives of others. Gratitude has a way of refocusing my attention on the positive and reminding me of how blessed I am.

Gratitude also promotes good health. That does not mean that gratitude brings instantaneous healing, nor does it make us immune from viruses or exempt from accidents. But a heart of gratitude promotes spiritual, emotional, and physical health in at least a couple of ways. First, gratitude trumps toxic negativity and complaint, cleansing our perspective and renewing our focus. And second, gratitude seems to put us in a positive frame of mind which allows our body to better produce and release antibodies and restorative enzymes that work to promote health and wholeness.

A detailed report on a study of the psychology of gratitude is found in Robert Emmons’ book, Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier.  In his research at the University of California-Berkeley, Dr. Emmons found that those who practice grateful thinking “reap emotional, physical and interpersonal benefits.” The study revealed that individuals who regularly keep a gratitude journal report fewer illness symptoms, generally feel better about their lives as a whole, and are more optimistic about the future. This led Dr. Emmons to conclude that gratitude is both a personal choice and healthy response to our life experiences.

Ultimately, gratitude inspires me to serve. Gratitude is not about counting my blessings just to make me a happier consumer.  Genuine gratitude motivates me to share my blessings.  For me, the quality of life is best measured, not by how much I have, but how effectively I use resources I have been given to serve.

With good reason, the scripture encourages us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” For the believer, thanksgiving is not just a day of feasting and festivity. Choosing an attitude of gratitude is a daily discipline, a personal practice that gradually and steadily transforms us from the inside out.

(Barry Howard serves as Senior Minister of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola.)