Vince Deagler

hi everyone.  i hope each of you experience the merriest of christmases and the most blessed new year.  having said that, can i ask whether you really believe the christmas story?  i’m not trying to be blasphemous or anything, but when you look at the christmas story, it’s a bit unbelievable isn’t it???  i mean most of us gave up on the idea of santa claus, elves, reindeer, the north pole, etc. a long time ago, right?  usually in childhood.  i have a 3 year old granddaughter that thinks an elf that sits on on our mantle is reporting to santa whether she is being a good girl or not.  if she still believes that when she grows up, i for one will be worried.  but are any of those things more difficult to swallow than the actual christmas story?  the virgin birth, the star, the angels, shepherds, and perhaps most amazing, the incarnation.  but not at all what you would expect of a god taking human form.  it is not unusual for a culture to have that kind of concept embedded in their belief system.  but to do so as a baby born in a manger, who would grow up in relative obscurity, in an oppressed nation dominated by rome, and eventually allow himself to be taken and crucified by rome, for the sin of humanity is kind of a unique story.  certainly as unbelieveable as the santa story line.  hence the question, do you believe?  and why?

i can’t answer for you, but i can share my thoughts with you.  first, once you accept the reality of god, the miraculous is not that big of a challenge.  either the universe is a colossal accident, or god’s creation.  i believe in a creator god and because i do, the christmas story is not that big of a hurdle.

second, it is not unreasonable to believe a creator god would want to communicate with the people he created.  that is the essence of scripture.  the bible is with out any doubt the most scrutinized book in human history, yet it has not been shown to be unreliable.  there are people who disagree with what it says, but not because it has been deemed unreliable.  generally this occurs because they struggle with the idea of god and the miraculous.

third, christianity, which grows out of the christmas story, should not even exist if the story was a farce.  remember christianity originates in a very hostile environment to christ and the movement known as christianity.  the rejection of the jewish nation and crucifiction at the hand of rome are historically corroborated facts.  the gospels were in circulation within this hostile environment within years of christs life.  if these were lies, they could not have survived in that hostile environment.  in addition, that would require us to believe the perpetrators of this lie (the apostles) were willing to die for what they knew to be lies.  there may be people getting rich off christianity today, that was not true at all in the first century.  at that time there was a price to pay if you aligned yourself with this belief system.  it was a threat to judaism and rome, and treated as such.  no, christianity could not have survived if it were based in a lie.

coming back to the question, do you believe?  i do without reservation.  i shared briefly some of my reasoning.  but let me get a bit personal for a moment.  you see there are many people who believe, but there belief is limited.  they see jesus as a good moral teacher, a good moral role model, someone worthy of emulation.  really?  jesus presented himself to us as god come in human form to be our savior.  if he is an imposter, he has pulled off the greatest hoax in human history.  he would be a bigger criminal than jim jones or david koresh.  no, if he is not god, he is not a good moral teacher/role model.  he would be a liar or a lunatic.

but if he is who he claimed to be, he is much more than a good moral teacher/role model, he would be immanuel.  god with us.  the story has been around for thousands of years.  i wrestled with it and accepted it fully on january 2, 1975.  on that night, i turned from living life on my terms to accepting jesus as my savior, i surrendered the control of my life to him, i have never been the same, he has transformed my life.  in a way, that is the greatest evidence i could offer you.  i know what i have experienced.  perhaps you have met other christians, who have had the same kind of life changing experience.  there has to be an explanation…his name is jesus.  as you look into the story, consider the evidence, do the research, think about it, don’t be surprised if you come to the same conclusion i have come to…and if you do i invite you to surrender your life to christ.  when you do, he will change you just has he has changed countless others over the years.  once again, merry christmas and have a blessed new year.  vince.       

hi everyone.  can i bring up something god has been impressing on me lately?  one of the things we believe as followers of jesus is history is “his story”.  we believe god has everything under control and events will play out according to his plan.  now that gets complicated, and conjures up many questions i’m not really planning on dealing with today.  you are welcome to ask questions and i’ll do my best to answer, but i want to touch on something quite simple that grows out of that belief.  if everything that happens is a part of god’s story, doesn’t that mean there is a purpose, a reason for what’s happening at any given moment?  that certainly is what scripture teaches.  for instance, ecclesiastes 3:1 says “there is an appointed time for everything, and there is a time for every event under heaven”.  now if that is true, doesn’t that mean we should try to understand that purpose?  and going a step further, couldn’t we assume that at times, the purpose might be that i need to learn some lessons in a given area, and the events that define my present reality are the classroom in which i can best learn those lessons?  for instance, when paul experienced what the bible refers to as a “thorn in the flesh”, it seems to me that a part of the purpose for paul’s experience was to learn that god’s grace was sufficient for any and all circumstances, and that when paul was at his weakest, god’s strength could be displayed in a way that it could not if paul had everything covered.  so, let me ask you a couple questions.

1.  look behind you, look at your present reality, look at what lies ahead as best you can, is there a lesson there?  may i humbly point out, it is my experience that god is quite patient.  so, he is willing to keep teaching the same lesson over and over until we get it.  (i know that is how he has worked within me.)  what is it that god is trying to teach you.

2.  why do you suppose he is trying to teach you that lesson at this time?  could it be that this lesson is very important to successfully navigating the road you are on?  (think of how god brought a lion and a bear into david’s life to prepare him for the goliath that was out in his future.)

3.  if you are unsure about all this, is there anything you can do?  thankfully the answer is yes.  look at what james teaches in james 1:5 “but if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of god, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”  what i think james is saying to us is we may not understand everything right now, and that is ok.  as we seek god’s insight into the matter, he will reveal what he is up to, why, and how we should proceed.  i am a firm believer in the promise “i can do all things through christ who strengthens me”…but i may need to learn how first.

4.  once you have understood, what will you do?  that may seem like a dumb question, but the reality is that it is not always easy to do what god wants you to do.  sometimes we look at it and conclude it is simply too hard, would cost too much, won’t work, i can’t, etc.  it is wise to decide in advance to obey rather than wait.  sometimes in the heat of the moment we take the path of least resistance, rather than the path god intends.

anyway, god has really been impressing me with these thoughts lately.  thought i’d pass them along.  hope they help you as they have been helping me.  blessings, vince

i have had a pretty interesting week i’d like to share with you.  the reason i found it interesting is because of the unexpected happy ending.  it has been my experience over the years that we christians are sometimes walking contradictions.  we are challenged in scripture to love our neighbor as our self.  to consider others before our self.  to bear with each other.  to work very hard at maintaining the unity of the spirit.  to work at reconciliation.  after all, we are the body of christ and the family of god.  shouldn’t all of those kind of scriptures result in a “band of brothers and sisters” mentality?  shouldn’t our commitment to the body/the family result in a bond that is almost indivisible?  yet the reality is much different.  so, let me make a few suggestions on how we can work through conflict in a way that strengthens our bond to each other.  these are in the spirit of romans 12:21 where we are called to overcome evil with good.

1.  be an internalist.  in any conflict i can only control my side of the problem.  as i control me, i am doing all i can.  too often we are focused on what the other person(s) is saying and doing.  but i don’t control that, i only control me.

2.  be outcome oriented.  solving the problem, being reconciled is the point.  winning the argument or assigning blame is not.  many an argument has been won without solving the problem and being reconciled, often in that process the relational damage escalates.  we need to be wiser than that.

3.  be reasonable.  if this is not a moral or doctrinal issue with a clearly defined right and wrong, be willing to compromise.  but be careful.  culturally we compromise through give and take negotiation.  the problem with that is we usually conclude we got the short end of the stick when a compromise is reached.  this usually precedes further conflict.  instead, out of love, actively pursue areas where you agree and can move toward each other (remember you control you in this process).  the net result when you do this is you bump into each other somewhere near the middle ground, not because of negotiation which leads to keeping score…but in love.  much better approach.

4.  be radical.  there are times when in the midst of conflict we can display a christ like love that truly is radical in nature.  our culture really values our rights, but i can choose to release my rights.  i can choose to agree with you, do things your way as in turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, giving your coat also.

5.  be wise.  you do know there are many things that just aren’t worth arguing about.  so why would we then argue or divide over those kind of things.  i have seen church’s split over the color of the carpets, over whether the choir wore robes or not, and all kinds of other trivial issues.  doesn’t paul remind us that the kingdom of god is more than eating and drinking?

6.  be humble.  do not be afraid to seek help.  perhaps as you seek the counsel of others you will discover creative alternatives to the glory of god.

this past week i was involved in a situation where brothers were divided, largely over misunderstanding.  i admit it…i was pretty pessimistic.  experience told me things like this do not end well.  i was resigned to that outcome.  and then god surprised me.  i love it when he does that!  the misunderstandings were resolved, reconciliation won the day.  all because several christians were willing to act like christians.  it doesn’t get any better than that!  may you, as you journey on, experience this same joy in those moments your commitment to others is tested.  blessings, vince.