Take Off Your Shoes!

Happy New Year & Take Your Shoes Off!

When we relocated to North Carolina we learned to offer taking off our shoes before entering someone’s house. For some international cultures this gesture is automatic and not simply an offer. There’s a logic associated with this practice. In the southern states, your outdoor shoes, if not removed, will track red clay residue, prevalent throughout the area, onto rugs and floors. In some cultures, outdoor shoes are considered dirty and inappropriate for indoor use. The Japanese have special shoes or slippers for indoors.

Exodus 3:5 speak of a similar command when Moses approached the burning bush. “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals for you are standing on holy ground.”

I often thought about that verse. Why remove one’s shoes? Some years ago I heard a sermon on this verse which sounded logical. When you consider all of the dirty and nasty places we may have walked with our shoes, the Lord’s command to Moses made sense. It was a reminder that sin is incompatible with personal holiness and the presence of God.

As we face a new year in 2016, let us make a commitment to pursue holiness in our daily lives. At the same time let us symbolically remove our shoes … that is, try our best to remove sinful behavior from our lives. The good news is that we don’t have to accomplish that on our own. The Holy Spirit will strengthens us on our journey of holiness, but first we have to make the commitment. Even if we misstep we can seek forgiveness from the Lord and get back on track.

Have a successful New Year and watch where you walk!

Robert Parlante
January 2016

Christmas Greeting

WAR ON CHRISTMAS

Whatever happened to the Christmases of old when we sang Christmas carols in public places, store clerks wished shoppers “Merry Christmas”, and public schools were not paranoid about putting up Christmas trees. Like many pleasant memories of life, those events have vanished like a wisp of fog blown out to sea by a politically correct windstorm, never to return again. Schools have even banned activities disguised as Christmas. The Christmas colors of green and red are expelled from school.

We are told to celebrate snowflakes, snowmen, reindeers and winter. Thankfully most churches still display Christmas trees (usually indoors), and some even unabashedly set up public Nativity scenes outside of their churches. Unfortunately, there are growing numbers of churches that minimize outside Christmas décor like we are trying to hide Jesus in a corner for fear his display might dampen a potential new adherent.

For believers, this all sounds downright discouraging, doesn’t it? Well, maybe not so much. Christmas decorations have little, if anything, to do with Christmas. But we all like to hold onto them because they remind us of the real reason for the season. Unfortunately, like many times, the things at the edge of life overwhelm what should be the core of life. Over time the central meaning of Christmas becomes diluted or corrupted when we place too much emphasis on decorations.

As believers we need a reality check. There is a war on Christmas and there has always been a war on Christmas. The battle lines were set centuries ago. Not so much over trees and ornaments. Not over green and red colors. It’s because of the Jesus.

In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 2, we have the account of King Herod reacting to the birth of the Christ child. This was the very first war on Christmas. Herod becomes disturbed, thinking the baby Jesus would eventually usurp the King’s political role. We are still fighting similarly motivated battles today against what appears to be unstoppable forces bent on destroying Christianity.

An angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and says, “Get up, take the child and mother and escape to Egypt … Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

I leave you with this closing thought. The battle belongs to the Lord. With Herod, he chose a different approach to serve a greater purpose. The Lord speaks through Scripture. He uses other people. He may even use an angel.

The key is to listen, test the validity through Scripture, and be obedient. Then choose your battles!

Robert Parlante

December 2015

 

God Isn't Fixing This!

The New York Daily News front page recently ran a headline which read “God Isn’t Fixing This!” in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting episode. The headline was prompted by the prayers of public figures for those killed and harmed and affected by the shooting. The headline was a call for more gun controls as the only way to fix the mess that our country faces with terrorism and mass shootings. But implicit in the headline was that prayers were a waste of effort in the San Bernardino case because God is not going to fix anything in response to our cries for help and comfort.

I am in favor of better gun controls that closes loop-holes, but I also hold a biblical world view. The Daily News headline felt arrogant like people (and even believers) have the right and ability to draw conclusions about the actions and intents of our Lord. We view the spiritual world through a glass darkly. We only see a fraction, if at all. We should not complain about God’s lack of actions and draw pessimistic conclusions he will not be fixing much of anything. The only clear word about God’s intent and promise comes through Scripture.

The issue is really a heart matter.

2 Chronicles 7:14 says: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Why not look forward to a headline that says: God Can Heal Our Land!

Robert Parlante

December 2015