So, it’s Wednesday night. Actually, it’s more like Wednesday evening. Tonight would normally be reserved for student ministries. We typically follow the school calendar with Mosaic, meaning that if school is off, Mosaic is off, so that explains my early post and the reason we didn’t have student ministries tonight.

The last month has been a whir of activity. My job at The Salvation Army kept me busier than I ever thought possible. It was tough keeping it all together. Once Christmas arrived, we went home for Christmas, which was really good. Yesterday we got home and as the old Bob Denver song goes, “Hey, it’s good to be back home again.” Today, I went back to work for one day at Salvation Army and tomorrow we have off — what a wonderful word. Unfortunately, that busyness has kept me from writing anything significant for the last month. Tonight my head is a little clearer.

One of the blogs I read regularly is from Mark D. Roberts.  He had a great article that reflected back on a former church.  He asked the question:

What did I do that really mattered?

Tonight is New Year’s Eve.  I really feel in a reflective mood this evening.  As I write, I can glance over the top of the laptop to our Christmas tree.  I’ve been thinking about one of our former churches quite a bit lately.  One of the reasons is that we have a beautiful tree topper and ribbon that was made by one of  the ladies at First Wesleyan in Flint, MI.  Our family has joined the Facebook group and we have put up several pictures from our time there.  Several years ago, I had the chance to go back there and preach.  Now that was an experience because while I was there, I never preached — I never felt up to that time that God was calling me to do that.  I was the worship pastor and tech guy.  When I went back to preach, I had the chance to experience that church all over again.  What was amazing to me, was the number of things that I implimented while I was there that were still in place.  That gave me a great feeling.  Preaching there was cool too.  Since I have pastored in small churches, I have never really preached to a large crowd.  That was one of the few times that I had to preach to a big crowd.  It’s amazing how much easier it is to preach to a larger crowd.  As I look back, was there anything that I did that mattered?  Yes, we made advancements in the Kingdom of God.

That becomes the question today.  Pam has written several posts reflecting back on this year.  In reflecting back on this past year, what have I done that really matters?  What have you done this year that really matters?  By really matters, I mean what things have made a difference in the Kingdom of God?  I challenge you to look back and determine — as I write I am thinking about those things — what really mattered in the Kingdom of God?  What did you do that made a difference in the Kingdom of God?  That question begs a second question; What will you do in 2009 that will advance or make a difference in the Kingdom of God?  The answer to that question, could make a world of difference.

A couple of days ago, Rebecca and I were watching the Today show’s 2008 review. We both like history and all of us need to realize that 2008 will soon be history. I have always like watching the year in review shows since I was a teen ager. I would love to spend my New Year Eve watching the year in review. Ok , I was not normal. I stopped watching them after Dale and I got married because we would spend New Year’s Eve at church. I started watching them again when we moved from Pennsylvania. This was until someone told me that they didn’t want to watch because they had already lived through the year and they did not want to watch a review of it.

That statement, made years ago, has haunted me this year. People tend to forget history for one reason or another. There is a phrase that says, “Those who do not remember history will be doomed to repeat it.” I have seen this in the world and in the church. Perhaps it is because of our me-centric culture – perhaps it’s because we don’t care, or perhaps it is out of ignorance, but there are people who have no clue of history.

Here in America, we tend to forget that our Constitution guarantees the right for us to worship as we please. We tend to forget that the colonies were religiously diverse; Puritans, Anglicans, Catholics, Baptists, and others. Our nation is even more diverse religiously today. Even so, our founding fathers gave each one the right to worship as they please, even if we do not agree with them. Sometimes that thought is tough for Christians to process. Yet, that is our history as a country.

When it comes to church history, we may like to forget (how convenient) that there was 1500 years of church history before the Protestant Reformation. As those who are connected to the holiness movement, we tend to forget that there were almost 350 years between the Reformation and the start of our church history. Our daughter Rebecca loves church history. She has read and reread several books on the history of the Church. The Church (the holy, apostolic and catholic) has been around for 2000 years – many times as Dr. Earle Wilson has said, “Not because of us, but in spite of us.” Let us not forget that.

My point is that we need to go back and take a look at history. We will find many great lessons that we can learn. It will help us from making similar mistakes. Let us embrace history so in the future we do not fall on our faces.

This is the time when all the news media recalls the top events of 2008.  The following five stories are the top stories in my view.  Some of these stories didn’t even make the headlines.  Some will change the world and others will not.

1. Political – President Elect Obama’s historic win.  (While we may not agree with him on some of the issues, the Scriptures command us to pray for our leaders.)  Obama will be the first African-American president of the United States.
2. Personality – Sarah Palin – I could see her as the next president and possibly another historic election.
3. Religion – The Wesleyan Church during its General Conference in Orlando elected Dr. Joann Lyon (Founder of World Hope International) as our first woman General Superintendent.  Dr. Lyon leads with Dr. Jerry Pence and Dr. Tom Armiger.
4. Most important person who died – Shirley Christman – my mom, how I still miss her.
5. Technology – While Facebook has been around for several years, I have discovered a way of contacting old friends and staying in contact with current friends.  It has been great keeping up with my nieces and nephews as well as chaplains and missionaries.

So, what are your top five stories of 2008?

Nativity of the Lord
Christmas Eve
December 24, 2008

Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:1-20

1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.