Pastors' Blog

Ten-year-old Athena Nastasia has to pinch herself to make sure it’s true. The young resident of Phoenix, Arizona, learned at school this last fall about a national contest NASA is sponsoring to name the new Mars rover. 

Contestants must write an essay, defending the name they are suggesting: “‘It was such an ambitious journey just to take this rover, and this rover will be transported to this amazing planet, and it will find things that could depend on future life or figure out past life on Mars,’ said Athena” (www.azfamily.com).

So, if you were a school kid, what name would you submit? Twenty-eight thousand children took the challenge. And just a few days ago NASA whittled the 28,000 down to 155—and Athena is ecstatically one of them!

Talking about a shot at making space history. When she got the word, “‘I was crying, and my eyes were full of tears like happy tears, and I was in the car when it happened, and I was just so amazed,’” the ten-year-old told a reporter (ibid). 

And her mom? “I’m beyond the moon excited!” Come February 18, Athena and Mom will learn if the name she submitted will be emblazoned on the side of this high-tech other-world wonder.

Athena’s suggested name? “Ambition.” I like that.

Because let’s face it, ambition certainly drove the creation of this out-of-the-world invention—and ambition will be the intangible fuel that rockets the rover in its 193 million mile voyage to Mars.

Ambition. Come to think of it, that’s what fuels Love on the Move, too. Not a lofty ambition to make a name, but rather the ambition to live out the love of the One whose steps we follow. Not just Pioneer’s new vision/mission theme, Love on the Move is, in fact, the single phrase that captures the life of Jesus and every man, woman, and child who chooses to follow Him.

Love on the Move. In the steps of Jesus: “But we need not go to Nazareth, to Capernaum, or to Bethany, in order to walk in the steps of Jesus. We shall find His footprints beside the sickbed, in the hovels of poverty, in the crowded alleys of the great city, and in every place where there are human hearts in need of consolation. In doing as Jesus did when on earth, we shall walk in His steps” (Desire of Ages 640).

It’s called Love on the Move. Because when you walk in His steps, better yet by His side, you become Love on the Move to everyone you seek to love for Him. And what could possibly be a higher ambition than that?

I suppose you already know the much-ballyhooed statistics for New Year’s resolutions—60% of us make them, and only about 8% of us achieve them. Peter Economy (his real name), who writes for Inc. magazine and website, touts these familiar numbers. But surprise—he then (very much in advance) declares what will be the top ten resolutions made for 2020. How does he know?

“Polly” told him so: “Polly is artificial intelligence patented by market research firm Advanced Symbolics Inc. that uses publicly available online information to create representative samples of any population or target audience. Polly looked at what 274,779 Americans said their New Year's Resolutions were for the past four years to project what the 10 top New Year's resolutions would be for 2020” (www.inc.com/peter-economy/10-top-new-years-resolutions-for-success-happiness-in-2020.html). 

Want to know what Polly says? Here are “her”/our top ten resolutions for the New Year just ahead:

1. Actually doing my New Year's resolution
2. Trying something new
3. Eat more of my favorite foods
4. Lose weight/diet
5. Go to the gym
6. Be happier/better mental health
7. Be more healthy
8. Be a better person
9. Upgrade my technology
10. Staying motivated

Who’s going to argue with these ten determinations to live a healthier, happier life in 2020? Those of us who make resolutions probably find at least one of them in this Top Ten list.

But there’s a missing resolution that hands down will one day be shown to be the most vital resolution any human being could possibly have made. Jesus minces no words: “‘But seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’” (Matthew 6:33).

Talking about a one-resolution-fits-all proposition: “Make Me first—and I will take care of every dimension of your life and living.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing reflects: “Jesus does not release us from the necessity of effort, but He teaches that we are to make Him first and last and best in everything. We are to engage in no business, follow no pursuit, seek no pleasure, that would hinder the outworking of His righteousness [right-doing] in our character and life” (99 emphases supplied). Not because God is a bit grumpy on New Year’s Eve—but because we were created to thrive and flourish on the high octane of a Jesus-first kind of life. 

“First and last and best in everything”—that’s the Jesus who eagerly waits to turn this New Year into the best year we’ve ever had. But who’s surprised? After all with Jesus—the best is yet to come. 

Always.

We’re way too sophisticated for that childhood myth about a rotund gentleman with a white beard and rosy cheeks picking up the tab for our Christmas bills. But boy, are those bills going up! Take the latest post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping numbers (how could we ignore them) released over the last few hours.

According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette: “A record 189.6 million consumers shopped over the long Thanksgiving weekend, up 14% from last year, the National Retail Federation said Tuesday. And for the first time, Black Friday topped Cyber Monday as the busiest day for e-commerce, though it also remained the busiest day for in-store shopping.” (www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/dec/04/holiday-weekend-spending-up-16-20191204/).

Must be the elderly driving this spending bill higher? Not hardly: "Spending rose 16%, as shoppers spent $361.90 on average over the five-day span from Thursday to Monday.” But keep reading: “Younger consumers were the biggest spenders, with 25- to 34-year-olds each shelling out an average of $440.46, followed by 35- to 44-year-olds at $439.72” (ibid emphasis supplied).

So how much did America spend on Black Friday? (By the way, Black Friday is now global—we were in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for ASI meetings over the Thanksgiving weekend—“Black Friday” was posted everywhere.) CNBC is reporting Black Friday shoppers in the U.S. spent $7.4 billion online alone (retail figures are not clear), making it “the biggest sales day ever for Black Friday and [trailing] only last year’s Cyber Monday’s $7.9 billion for the number 1 spot of all-time in online revenue, according to Adobe’s data” (www.cnbc.com/2019/11/30/black-friday-shoppers-spend-record-7point4-billion.html).

At this point, the numbers get a bit numbing when you add to that $7.4 billion the whopping Cyber Monday sales ($9.4 billion—a new record) and Thanksgiving Day online sales ($4.2 billion) plus the weekend in between. 

Bottom line? Over the last few days, Americans have spent more than $21 billion on Christmas. And we’re still three weeks out!

So who pays for Christmas? This summer the Wall Street Journal reported: “The American middle class is falling deeper into debt to maintain a middle-class lifestyle. . . . Consumer debt, not counting mortgages, has climbed to $4 trillion—higher than it has ever been even after adjusting for inflation” (August 2, 2019—front page). Moreover, “student loan debt totaled about $1.5 trillion last year, exceeding all other forms of consumer debt except mortgages” (ibid). That’s a total of $5.5 trillion of debt (not counting mortgages)! And yet our Christmas spending is higher than it has ever been before. What’s wrong with that picture?

What about this picture? “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2:6-7).

Who picked up the tab for the “first “Christmas?” No Santa Clauses or online shoppers or Black Fridays or Blue Christmases there. Just the Newborn—swaddled in cloth strips and placed in a box of cow feed inside that dank stable cave—the Gift of the ages, from the Father’s heart to the fallen race. The cost of his Gift—when measured in the currency of Heaven? “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7-8). Did you catch that? Those lavished “riches of God’s grace” have canceled the most staggering debt of all—our moral bankruptcy!

“Having collected the riches of the universe, and laid open the resources of infinite power, [the Father] gives them all into the hands of Christ, and says, All these are for man. Use these gifts to convince him that there is no love greater than Mine in earth or heaven. His greatest happiness will be found in loving Me” (Desire of Ages 57).

Who pays for Christmas? A wooden manger and cross are answer enough. 

Chihuahua, Mexico—how else is Heaven supposed to respond to the tragic mayhem of life on this planet today? Look—if Jesus wept over the grave of Lazarus and subsequently wept over the city of Jerusalem—if tears choked his desperate cry on the cross that Friday afternoon—wouldn’t He be weeping now?

Weeping for the greedy, revenge-driven drug cartel members who in a turf battle hail of bullets cut down that band of Mormons on their way to a wedding earlier this week? Weeping for the three brave mothers and six children who perished in that withering onslaught, one slain mother able to first save her infant by throwing her to the floor of the SUV? Weeping for the courageous surviving children who hid in tall roadside grass until one of the older boys could walk thirteen miles for help?

The muffled sound of a heartbroken God weeping—our calloused hearts forget too easily, too quickly the sobbings of our Sovereign, don’t they? How could any human mind remain sane if we like He lived with every crushing headline, every devastating death, every split second of every day and night on this terrestrial home?

Jesus once taught us about our Father: “‘I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. . . . Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. . . . Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. . . . You are worth more than many sparrows’” (Matthew 10:16, 28-31).

If not a single sparrow falls to the ground without the Father of all life personally noting that tiny death, how much more does His eternal heart grieve the deaths of His earth children?

“Not a sigh is breathed, not a pain felt, not a grief pierces the soul, but the throb vibrates to the Father’s heart. . . . God is bending from His throne to hear the cry of the oppressed. . . . Satan’s hatred against God leads him to hate every object of the Saviour’s care. He seeks to mar the handiwork of God, and he delights in destroying even the dumb creatures. It is only through God’s protecting care that the birds are preserved to gladden us with their songs of joy. But He does not forget even the sparrows. ‘Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows’” (Desire of Ages 356).

So live on we must, in spite of headlines like this week. Yes, we pray for the bereaved and bereft: “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 20:30). And for the evil perpetrators, we pray the prayer of the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

But let us also pray in response to His plea for someone, anyone to go to the rest of His children with the hope of Jesus: “Here am I. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

Otherwise, Heaven weeps alone. And that would be the saddest story of all.