It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

What is it that officially marks the beginning of the holiday season for you? For me it happened a few weeks ago when I ordered a triple venti cappuccino at Starbucks. The cashier reached for a venti cup and, instead of grabbing the every-day white cup, she grabbed the once-a-year red cup. "The Christmas cups are here!" I exclaimed. No joke. I couldn't help myself. Are you a red cup aficionado like I am? Did you know the red cup has it's own website? Check this!

I have to admit to having a soft spot for all things Christmas. Lights went up on the house Monday. Will probably get a tree this weekend. Love the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm. Very Griswold. Can't wait for the Trail of Lights to open. And Christmas music? Check out The Reindeer Room for a little Christmas chill.

Thanksgiving

The Bible tells about this time when Jesus was speaking to a large crowd of people and friends from His hometown came to rescue Him, by force if necessary. What triggered such a dramatic response from Jesus' friends? They heard He was so busy that there wasn't even time to eat.

Now I have to say that I understand that on a certain level. No matter how bad things get there's almost always time for food! If there's no time to eat, things must be really bad! How did that go anyway?

People: "Just got the 411 on Jesus. There are people who want to kill Him."

Jesus' friends: "No biggie. It's all good."

People: "Also heard He doesn't have time to eat."

Jesus' friends: "My bad! Let's go get Him and bring Him home. NOW!"

That's my way of saying enjoy good food, family, and friends this week for Thanksgiving. Remember there's no gathering this Saturday, November 26, in Round Rock. Join us for any one of three other gatherings this weekend in Cedar Park and Austin.

When you don't know what to say to God

I don't consider myself a ritualist and no one attending Calvary Austin on the weekend would be likely to describe our gatherings as ritualistic. Earlier this year I was reading The New Rabbi by Stephen Fried and I came across this great quote about ritual. Fried was quoting a retiring rabbi who said, "Ritual can be amazingly effective in allowing you to do something, anything, whether it makes sense or not."

As I recall, the context was grief but I couldn't help thinking about what the so-called Lord's Prayer means to me. The Lord's Prayer is found twice in the New Testament: Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. I don't say the Lord's Prayer. What I mean is that I don't recite it (much less recite it over and over again). But I do pray the Lord's Prayer. What I do is to take it a phrase at a time.

I say "Our Father in heaven" and then I pray for several minutes. I may focus on the word our reflecting on what it's like to be part of a spiritual family and thanking God for other followers of Jesus who are like brothers and sisters to me. Next I may focus on the word Father and thank God for being a loving Dad to me and others. Finally I may focus on the phrase "in heaven" and recognize that He doesn't have the limitations of an earthly father.

I sometimes pray, phrase by phrase, through the entire prayer. You know when I'm most likely to do that? When I don't know what to say to God. There are occasions when I choose to spend time in prayer and when I want to verbalize my thoughts and feelings but when I'm at a loss for words. I may not know where to start or how to avoid simply making requests. That's when I fall back on the Lord's Prayer. I've never needed to say anything to God that wasn't somehow prompted by one or more of the words or phrases in that model prayer.

If that's ritual, so be it.

Want to learn more? Check out my message-series Connecting with God:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

What?

What? I couldn't hear you. My ears are still ringing from the Stryper show last night! For those who missed it, you can see pics and read my friend Doug Van Pelt's review here. Check out his website while you're there. Doug publishes HM magazine, the authority for Christ-followers into the hard-music scene.

From the you-know-you're-old-when file:

The guy who took my ticket last night at La Zona Rosa looked at my daughter, Lauren, and me and said, "You're here for Stryper, aren't you? We're going to take your picture and show everyone where you've been!" Translation: "What's a nearly middle-aged guy like you doing in a place like this?" I said, "Hey man, back in the day I wore more lipstick than your wife!" No I didn't say that. But I did think to myself it was a good thing I hit the nose and ear hair trimmer before we left the house.

Been to church lately? Check us out this weekend. We've got four gatherings at three locations. I'll be teaching Mark 3:1-6 where Jesus gets angry. Come found out why.

Stryper tonight

So tonight's the Stryper show at La Zona Rosa. The first time I met any of the guys from Stryper was very cool. It was nearly 20 years ago. I was playing in a glam band and was at a guitar store in Whittier, CA buying a rack effect that I'd heard Stryper used to get their unique guitar sound. In walk Michael Sweet and Ox Fox of Stryper. Michael saw a magazine cover with Poison on it and said to Oz, "Man, they look even worse than we do!" I got to meet Oz. He was really friendly and, when he saw I was buing the rack effect, he opened box, dialed it in, and said, "Go home and try that." I couldn't wait to get home. I plugged in and guess what? It was the Stryper guitar sound all the way! I wrote down the settings so I would never forget.

A year or so later I was on the Sunset Strip passing out handbills to our next show. There was Oz Fox outside Gazarri's. He was there with a friend and there was a large group of people around him wanting to meet him and get an autograph. Oz was passing out leaflets and talking to people about how they could have a relationship with God. I thought it was so cool that this guy was out there sharing his faith on the weekend when he could have been doing anything he wanted.

These guys are the real deal and they put on a great show. I'll be there tonight. Hopefully my ears will still be ringing this weekend.

Grace

The weather is finally turning in Central Texas. I thought summer would never end! These cool mornings are perfect for mountain biking. There's something special about racing along single-track this time of year. I can't imagine settling for a stationary bike. There's too much to see and hear and smell on the greenbelt. The thing about a stationary bike is that you're doing all the work but you're not going anywhere.

For a lot of people, the Christian life is like that. They're riding their list of dos and don'ts as if they have to prove something to God. As if God was withholding His love waiting for them to achieve something. Waiting for them to accomplish something. They're doing all the work but they're not going anywhere.

The Bible says that, as a follower of Jesus, I am totally forgiven and accepted exactly as I am. There is nothing I could ever do to lose this acceptance. Owning that is like climbing down off the stationary bike. Owning that is what empowers us to climb up on the mountain bike and begin the most exhilirating ride of our lives. A ride where God is at work in us and through us and where we're going somewhere.

Feel the cool air rushing past your face.

Breathe and take in the intoxicating aroma of God's greenbelt.

Surge as spiritual endorphins flood your heart and mind.

Join us this weekend at any one of four weekend worship gatherings as we explore God's grace.

Gathering tonight!

It's that time again! First Wednesday at Calvary Austin. At 7PM the first Wednesday of each month, people who attend all three locations on the weekend meet at our North Austin location for an interactive worship gathering. Join us for worship, prayer, and communion. Our Cedar Park worship team, led by Michael Lyttle, will lead worship with special guest Larry Perry on lead guitar. See you tonight!