Probably the most referenced passage in the whole of Scripture is “Matthew 18″.  Oh, we can also cite John 3:16 and I Corinthians 13 as well.  Romans 8:28 has become popular, particularly in these difficult days.  Others like Philippians 4:7, Ephesians 6:12, and II Corinthians 5:17 have all been quoted as some of the Apostle Paul’s faves.  But, arguably, it’s Matthew 18 that we march out most often in our conversation with others regarding the proper process for communication, confrontation, and consultation in Christian matters.  “The Matthew 18 Principle”, while not often used, is used as  admonition, instruction or counsel when gossip, slander, or murmuring is prevalent.

Well, sorry to disappoint those that may be waiting to hear a sermonette on the passage, or give my two cents on the matter.  I have enough of my own dilemma in employing the principle.  Plus, my experience in Christian schooling has left me wondering either why Jesus bothered to address it (in my Bible the words are in RED!), or even “worse”, why he went to the cross for our forgiveness when we can’t seem to offer the same by a principle.

This article is about the “other” Matthew 18 . . . the first part of that chapter.  Here, Christ is addressing us as children.  Hmmmmmm . . . perhaps he knew where he was going in this sermon (agreeing, forgiving, and settling debts), so he starts with our true identity and lovingly challenges us to the kind of Kingdom living we’ve been called to?  For me, there is also the lesson of HIGHER LEARNING that springs to mind as I examine this whole concept of becoming child-like and what that means for us mature, adult types . . ..

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”.

Change is not something we handle well.  First you must WANT to change . . . that’s half the battle as “they” say.  It’s easier for the other person to change.  It’s easier for me to expect that you are the one that has to come around, to make it right, to settle up.  What makes it even more interesting is that Jesus then adds that you must “become” like little children.  What?  Isn’t faith growing in the knowledge of God, putting off childish things, and going on to maturity?  So why the apparent contradiction?   I believe that it is not a contradiction.  It is all part of the natural growth and development of the Christian life.  Going on to maturity is what the whole Matthew 18 principle is all about.  But it starts with that childlike realization that Christ is at the center of it.

In Christian schooling I see it every day.  I see that faith of these “little ones”, so innocent, unassuming, and tender.  Of course, I see their little disputes, frustrations, and conflicts.  Hey, it’s life!  But what better place to learn this life and to learn of it in the context of daily becoming mature in their faith.

Our board of trustees recently returned from our second annual retreat.  To get right to the point, I would highly recommend that your Christian ministry board plan to retreat . . . in order to advance.  There’s just no getting away from it, you need to “get away” from it and get together for refreshment and renewal.  It will do wonders for your organization, relationships, planning, vision, energy, and unity.

The main agenda was strategic planning, but it ended up being so much more.  While the four major planning sessions were so necessary, vital, and the focus of our 24 hours together, the “supplemental elements” of the retreat were like blessings upon the blessing.

• The worship and devotional times were very inspirational.  We read a book in advance, Mark Batterson’s, “In A Pit With A Lion On a Snowy Day”, which was a SUPER read as it relates to seizing opportunities, taking risks, and fighting fears.  It created a transparency that then opened our discussion at a different level than can be experienced at a monthly board meeting.  I highly recommend this exercise.
• “Breaking bread” together always is a blessing.  Board meetings often seem like a rush to get business done so by getting apart and away from the school itself, and having the opportunity just to “hang out” with each other opened some special doors into each others’ being . . . hey, we ARE human after all and sharing meals together provides the chance to share life.
• Picking a “get-a-way” place is important.  We chose a Christian conference center on the Chesapeake Bay and it was just the right setting, allowing us to experience God’s creation ~ beautiful sunset and sunrise, nature at it’s finest, and in an atmosphere conducive to “hearing the voice of God”.
• Setting a focus and purpose is a big step in the success of the retreat . . . keeping it can be even a bigger challenge!  For our time, I experienced such a richness of conversation, challenges to set patterns of thinking,  wider range of perspectives, and expression of emotional issues, that I just do not encounter in the normal flow of school life, well, not to the depth.  Where we started, where we “journeyed”, and where we ended were not always clean and organized.  But God had ordained this special time together and we found that “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).

For us, the retreat hasn’t ended . . . it goes on and will continue for a number of months.  Rather than thinking of it as a “mountaintop experience”, to be enjoyed and then back to reality, it was a break in order to begin anew.  The work continues before us.  It was actually more like a commencement . . . ending one phase of  plans and strategies from the past, and beginning another phase, implementing those initiatives that will carry us to a  new place of ministry.  The 70′s group the Moody Blues said it well, “With our arms around the future, and our back up against the past”.    That is what “retreating” will do for you, give you that view of ow you got where you are and where do we want to go.   Since the retreat the e-mails have been flying!  Ideas are flowing, communication is focused, and energy abounds.  There’s a new spirit that I know has germinated from our time apart, together.  While there was challenging discussion, and comments that caused some defensiveness and anxiety, the Lord was in the midst.  We were aware of His Presence and walked together through the difficult topics and uncomfortable realities, seeing the Holy Spirit cause “the rough ground to become level & the rugged places plain”.

That’s what a retreat should do.  Renew, perhaps even change one’s perspective, both individually and corporately as a group that has been charged with the stewardship and welfare of a ministry of the Lord. Take the time, make the time, redeem the time, making the most of each opportunity.  In this venture of HIGHER LEARNING, we who have been given the ministry and entrusted with the message (2Cor 5) of Christian education are commissioned, even obligated, to “come apart”, to watch, and to pray.

And that’s the final, but most vital of all the components of an advancing retreat . . . PRAYER.  Without seeking the face of God, in order to listen for the voice of God, we cannot hope to experience the hand of God in establishing the work of our hands.

So RETREAT!  Don’t neglect this valuable part of ministry.  Don’t neglect this valuable part of your own spirituality.  While our retreat was corporate in nature, it was for me individual.  I came away a different, and hopefully better person.  I easily get caught up in the busyness (business?) of my life with no time for reflection.  If we are too busy to get apart, we are too busy.  What we will find is that we just spin, running around in smaller and smaller circles, losing sight of the forest for the trees.  So get away ~ as the leadership of a ministry, and as the leader of that leadership.  I guarantee that by retreating, you can only advance the cause of the Kingdom we’ve been called to advance.

You can’t stop Christmas!  It happened as an historical event and it continues to happen in our lives each Advent season.  We prepare . . . prepare our homes for visiting, prepare our meals for consuming, prepare our gifts for sharing, prepare our churches for worshiping, and (hopefully) prepare our hearts for reflecting upon “Emmanuel”, God with us.  It’s in the air . . . Christmas is here, you can’t stop it.

Oh, man has tried, for sure, and is still trying.  Herod tried . . . and failed.  We hear it more and more, year after year.  “Happy Holidays”, no manger scenes allowed, no references to the Christ child, winter concerts, not even Christmas trees or lights ~ and that’s in school!  HIGHER LEARNING calls us to be schools of Christmas.  Some would have all references to Christmas (Christ’s Mass) obliterated from our culture.  Thank God for all the consumerism that keeps that from happening!!!

With these thoughts in mind, I would like to share my favorite story of Christmas.  No, it’s not from the Bible, nor from legend or tradition.  It’s a modern day story that my wife and I heard while living and working in Romania.  As some may remember, it was 20 Christmases ago that two dramatic and historical events took place in our world.  In late November, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.  Those of us that watched it on CNN were mesmerized by what we saw . . . people chiseling away at this monument to Communist isolation and socialism.  President Reagen’s words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”, became reality through a breach in the concrete and a flood of common folk longing for freedom and liberty.  From that time forward the world as we knew it began to change . . . and so did the life of yours truly.

The second event followed closely on the heels of the first, yet the seeds were planted the year before.  In December 1988, in the city of Timisoara, Romania, the air was changing and the people of that country began to stand up against the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu and his co-dictator wife.  It started when a representative group went to the capital of Bucharest and requested of their leader that they be allowed to celebrate Christmas this year.  It had been well over 40 years since the last Christmas was recognized in this atheist nation, meaning that a whole generation had grown up not knowing of the traditions, excitement, family gatherings . . . let alone the little town of Bethlehem, the angels from the realms of glory, and the shepherds watching their flocks!  I’m not sure we can fathom that notion, but then again . . .

Well, of course, the answer they received was an emphatic “NO!”.  In fact it was not just a “no”, but Ceausescu followed it with a bold, arrogant, yet prophetic declaration, “You can celebrate Christmas in this country when pears grow in poplar trees!”.  With that the group of Romanians was dismissed (fortunately not jailed!).   The people went home to Timisoara and totalitarianism prevailed . . . for the time being.

One year later, almost to the day, that crumbling occurred in Berlin, symbolic of the crumbling of Communism and atheistic rule in the former Soviet Union and its satellites.  In Romania, the spark that began in Timisoara was now spreading across the nation to the capital in Bucharest.  The wave of protest and revolt throughout Eastern Europe became unstoppable.  The curtain had been thrown back and the “wizard of totalitarianism” was revealed for what he was.  The dictator of fear had no clothes!  Ceausescu and his wife tried to escape through secret tunnels in their palace, boarding a helicopter for escape to neighboring Russia for asylum.   Unfortunately for them, the pilot was one of those protesting.  He landed the craft and the “odd couple” were arrested, tried, convicted, and executed all in one night . . . Christmas Eve, 1989.

The next morning, Christmas Day, the citizenry of Timisoara, Romania awoke to find the poplar trees in the city square decorated with pears!!!!  The prophecy was fulfilled . . . again.

Mans’ efforts to confound the plan and purpose of God will not stand.  We can take heart in that this Christmas.  What happened in Romania was not an old wives’ tale.  It happened, and happened in this generation.  May it never be said of us.  So in the midst of all the preparation for this holy day, let us pause to appreciate the freedom we have to do so.  While we prepare for the day, let us also prepare Him room . . . room in our lives.  It can get pretty crowded in there and Christmas can easily get pushed aside, “celebrating”, yet not.  Pretty soon we won’t recognize it anymore and we will wonder what happened.  The Romanians will tell you it can happen!

While it may not seem a Christmas verse, it certainly is fitting for this story ~ “The Lord  foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations”  ~Psalm 33:10

You just can’t stop Christmas.

My wife and I recently had a nostalgic moment while driving to upstate New York to visit our daughter and new granddaughter.  We are from that area and were traveling along the “highways & byways” we had known for over twenty years.  It fostered much discussion about all the memories we had made, traveling these roads.  We waxed philosophical about how these old highways were part of God’s way of preparing us, our family & friends, our ministry, and our own faith as a heritage of His work in our lives.  It was weird how journeying along those roads caused us to recall our personal journey . . .

It brought to mind the words of the prophet Isaiah, “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness . . . it will be for those who walk in that way”. While this speaks of a highway, it is not a literal road traveled.  In fact it may be the “road less traveled” these days!  This road is the way that God laid out before his people all throughout the Old Testament ~ “This is the way, walk in it”. It’s the same highway that John the Baptist had come to travel and prepare the way ahead.  It’s the same road that led to the advent of Christ . . . and leads us still.

Today, we do travel that same highway and, in the perspective of HIGHER LEARNING, are preparing the children of the next generation for Christ’s second advent.  This “Way of Holiness” is the avenue of discipleship which prepares young hearts for learning and living their faith into the next generation.  Fools and the unclean will not walk there, only the redeemed.

I’m convinced that a Christian school education is an integral stretch of that highway of preparation.  We can no longer think that the “rest stops” of youth activities alone is enough to guide our young people along life’s pathway.  They are at best, supplemental and should be.  We also seem preoccupied, even obsessed, with a certain emphasis that scholastic and interscholastic achievement are more important in the preparation for our children’s future(?).   This is not to say that these are not important, they are truly important, and, sad to say in some Christian schools, are found lacking!  But they can also become “voices” calling us to the right and to the left as distractions to God’s real purpose.  It’s the Voice behind us, the voice of the Lord, calling us to keep to the ancient path, the path that leads to understanding, peace, life, and true living (Prov 21:6, Luke 1:79, Psalm 16:11, I Timothy 6:19).

I believe this because I believe God’s Word is true.  I believe this because I’ve experienced it in my own life, and I believe this because I have seen it in my 30 years of walking this same highway.  I know, I know, it all sounds so metaphorical . . . “highway of God”, “walking the life”, “staying on the path”.  But just like Christ’s parables, these are heavenly descriptions of practical living.  I view Christian education is part of the same work as John the Baptist, one of preparation.  We in the Christian school movement are preparing the next generation of the Church and the Christian family to (and I emphasize like Aerosmith) “walk this way”.

So, during this Advent Season, even in our holiday travels, as we reflect upon the celebration of the Word made flesh, may we be reminded of the road we have been called to walk along, reminiscing of God’s direction and provision along the way, and recommitting our efforts and resources to prepare our young people to continue the journey after us.  In so doing, they prepare the next generation with that same biblical perspective that whatever we learn, it is for the Kingdom at the end of the highway . . .

Merry Christmas and Happy Trails,

OK, last weekend I had my annual bout with converting to atheism.  This consideration is brought on while putting up our Christmas decorations!  Between the tree in the house and the lights outside, I wondered what I really believed in and why?!?!?!  First the tree.  We have a family tradition of joining our oldest daughter and grandson in cutting down our trees.  That is always a delightful time.  That holiday feeling goes right down the drain in getting it in the stand, straight, and secure.  Being a “bit” obsessive compulsive, the slightest degree away from vertical will set me off.  So while I am attempting to screw those three bolts into the tree, I am convinced that my wife, who is holding the top STEADY, moved it off center, I just know it.  The three guide wires finally helped!

Then comes the outdoor lights.  After regretting that I didn’t pack them better last Christmas, I spend an hour untangling 500 yards of lights.  This was followed by several trips to WalMart to purchase new lights because the ones I purchased last year either don’t work or even worse, half work.  After that trek, I go back because the box I just bought doesn’t work!  Four hours later, I plop down in my chair and wonder why decking the halls with boughs of holly wasn’t enough. And all the while nice smooth jazz Christmas music is being played to soothe this savage beast.   Does Clark Griswold’s name ring a bell?  Bring on the wassail, and plenty of it!

All this to say that, through this adventure in decorating, I realized how quickly our circumstances rob us of our joy in Christ.  My sense of the season, my joy in the journey, and my delight in the details were quickly erased by the troubles with “things”.  My advent perspective had been spoiled by the little inconveniences and difficulties that are meant to be visual reminders and representations of that perspective . . . how sad a creature I am!

Thank God the next day was Sunday.  It “just so happened” that the sermon was about “HOPE” and the Old Testament reading was from Deuteronomy 11, where Moses reminds the people of Israel that, “The land you are entering is not like the land you came from . . . it is a land the Lord your God cares for; his eyes are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end”. It was then that it hit me ~ we worship a God of hope, The God Who has gone before us, in His sovereignty, in His purpose, in His eternal plan, and through His Son.  Where we are headed is not like where we came from, we are moving through a lot of “stuff” toward an eternal home that God’s eyes are continually on.  While we may wonder as we wander through this life, and wish for better and easier days,  we can rest assured that our God still has our best interest in His steady gaze upon what lies ahead.  For the joy set before him Christ endured the cross.  I guess I can certainly endure the decorating because of that same joy.   Interesting that Moses states that God’s gaze is “from the beginning of the year to its end”.   That includes all my days, all the days of 2009, and all the days of coming years.  WOW, I can’t think of anything else in this world that offers that kind of guarantee!  That sounds like hope to me.

So for all those reading this, that have identified with my travail in a morbidly humorous way, take heart!  All that time with all those !#*%^$! decorations actually means something far more than we realize in the doing.  Each Advent is a reminder that He once came, came to bring salvation to us through his life, death & resurrection.  The hope that Moses and the prophets foretold, came to pass.  That hope, FOR us, is Christ IN us, the hope of glory, and we live in that hope now.  So each Advent is also a looking forward, forward to the day when Christ comes the second time.  What a day of rejoicing that will be!  Makes all those decorations seem small in comparison, yet they are part of the perspective of hope in a world that desperately needs it, but is looking in the wrong places . . .

Well, I think I’ll go finish my Christmas decorating now that my Advent perspective is right . . . “Falalalala, lala, la, la”

Bill