Santa Claus is coming to town!
December 24th, 2011 by
So the song goes…
You’d better watch out, you’d better not cry, you’d better not pout I’m telling you why! Santa Claus is coming to town. He knows when you’ve been sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good – so you’d better be good, for goodness sake.
I don’t know about you – but that sounds a little creepy to me to think about some guy watching me sleeping? I mean, how many hidden video cam’s must this guy have!?
So, without me giving any spoilers about Santa and his existence and stuff (nudge, nudge – wink, wink) this song always (or at least nearly always) make me think about Jesus. Seriously… he knows when you’ve been sleeping, yeah… knows when you’re awake,… definitely. Knows if you’ve been bad or good? Oh yeah. So you’d better be good… well, for your own sake (and His glory). Yep. Better not pout? fo sure… - he says in his Word not to complain and whine. Jesus Christ is coming to town. Don’t know when, don’t know how… but I want to be ready.
Here’s a new version…
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Jesus Christ is coming to town
He’s making a list
get rid of that vice;
‘Cause Jesus he knows who’s naughty and nice
Jesus Christ is coming to town
He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for Jesus’ sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Jesus Christ is coming to town
Jesus Christ is coming to town
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
What do you see?
December 23rd, 2011 by
There must have been a lot of people in Bethlehem when Christ was born. I don’t know how many – but people had been called to go to their ancestral home and all the people from the line of David would have made their way there. Here’s the thing… with all the hundreds, or thousands, of people that were there we don’t hear anything… nothing… about any of them. The only people we hear about in the story of Jesus’ birth, besides Joseph and Mary (and Jesus) are the shepherds. The guys that were out in the fields abiding with their flocks.
I’m sure a few people must have heard about the baby that was born in the craziness of the census and stopped by to say hello. Or maybe when Joseph was getting food, or Mary was getting water they shared their happy news with others in the village. But we don’t hear about anyone worshiping Jesus – nobody recognizing him as the Messiah – except for the shepherds. All the normal people were going about their lives and missed out on something extraordinary.
So… this Christmas season, what do you see as you go about your daily business? What might you be missing? What might be hiding from you in the noise of your day? Take your headphones off and look around. Look for Jesus. Look for opportunities to see him – and to be him. He came to the least, the lost and the lowly – you know, the people you walk by all day long and take no notice of.
Why did God send his angels to the shepherds? I don’t know… maybe he knew they would listen. Maybe they weren’t too busy. Christmas is, by definition, the feast of, or celebration of Christ. Let’s celebrate him not only with gifts, food and fun (although those are great things to share with family) but let’s celebrate him – worship him – with our lives. Time, talents and treasures.
Merry Christmas.
Christmas is coming!
December 8th, 2011 by
We held out annual winter retreat for our staff and volunteers this past weekend (if you join our summer staff – which is definitely a life changing experience – you’ll be invited to come up for our two annual retreats each year! Sweet!). It was an amazing and fun time of fellowship, worship, games and decorating… Yep. We spent many hours decorating the dining hall, inside and out, for our 15th Annual Camp Gifford Christmas Celebration! we had over 120 people come kick off the Christmas season with pizza, lot’s of cookies, candies and goodies, wassail, cocoa, coffee, Christmas carols, games and lot’s of fun just hanging out together. The dining hall was beautiful with thousands of lights, a well decorated Christmas tree, thematic decorations throughout the building and pine chips covering the floor.
Most importantly, though, we took a few minutes to remember that Jesus wasn’t just a human baby like everyone else. But that he was (and is) the Son of God – sent on a mission to renew our relationship with God. What an amazing plan God put into place for us. He wants to have a life-changing relationship with everyone on this planet. He wants you to belong to him and to provide you with eternal security – a home in heaven with Him forever. I would so love to talk to you about God, Jesus and how that can postively effect your life if you’d like to know more about it. Email me: campgifford@aol.com, or give me a call (509) 233-2511, or come visit me for a walk around one of the most beautiful places in the Inland Northwest. Have a happy Holy-day Season! God bless!